Wes Mathis

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

English

Wesley Mathis is a PhD candidate in Technical Communication and Rhetoric at Utah State University. As scholar of writing, rhetoric, and professional communication, he uses rhetorical and ethnographic field methods to investigate the intersections of science writing, technology design, colonialism, and culture to reveal how technocratic approaches to environmental planning and policy often delegitimize diverse forms of knowledge, limit public involvement, and harm marginalized and underprivileged communities. Currently, he is researching the link between ableist discourses surrounding (dis)abled bodies and ineffective water management in vulnerable regions of the arid West, such as Great Salt Lake’s watershed. Wesley’s research has influenced both campus and local community organizations. He has engaged with an ecotour operator to help them create policies that are more inclusive of marginalized knowledges in their practice. As a graduate fellow for USU’s Institute for Land, Water, and Air, he has worked directly with Utah’s Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands to improve stakeholder communication as they address Bear Lake’s intersecting social, economic, and environmental risks. Wesley believes that facilitating transdisciplinary research, planning, and community engagement will lead to the creation of ethical and environmentally just policy that reimagines what a “healthy” relationship with the environment looks like.