Professor Kariuki Kirigia received a BRN IGNITE Grant awarded by the University of Toronto Black Reasearch Network. Launched in 2022, the BRN’s IGNITE Grant offers $5,000 to $10,000 annually to support interdisciplinary research and professional development for Black faculty, librarians, post-doctoral scholars, clinical scientists and medical research fellows/residents at the University of Toronto. His project, “Dispossession through documents: Maps, title deeds, land leases, and land registries in Kenya,” is driven by the need to avert the loss of land among the pastoral Maasai of southern Kenya.
Building on previous research in Massailand, this research will further investigate the evolution of dispossession tactics through environmental protection or climate change mitigation efforts, also known as green colonialism. Kirigia plans to facilitate community workshops with the Maasai of Olderkesi and Loita in Narok County to discuss their experiences. Findings will inform his classes about land governance, biodiversity conservation and environmental justice.