An Indigenous-led home for critical and creative research on the politics of technoscience.
LABS
Since 2007, the Technoscience Research Unit at the University of Toronto has been the institutional Indigenous-led home for many scholars researching within the fields of science, technology and environment. Through research projects, micro-laboratories, and working groups, we support and foster Indigenous, feminist, queer, environmental, anti-racist and anti-colonial methodologies for studying the history and politics of technoscience. Our research activities – clustered together in laboratories – are organized according to three priority areas: Environmental Data Justice; Indigenous Science, Technology & Environment Studies; and Indigenous Science and Ethical Substance. Learn more about our research areas and activities below.
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The Environmental Data Justice Lab is an Indigenous lab that focuses on the relationships between data, pollution, and colonialism with a focus on Canada’s Chemical Valley, where 40% of Canada’s Petrochemicals are refined, and which is on the territory of Aamjiwnaang First Nation. The lab is dedicated to community-based and led research, and is co-led by M Murphy (Red River Metis) and Vanessa Gray (Aamjiwnaang First Nation). The lab includes students, faculty, and community researchers.
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Indigenous contributions to science, technology, and environmental studies (STES) signal a new era of research collaboration. Fields as distinct as chemistry, AI, and pharmacy now seek to collaborate with Indigenous scholars. At the same time, Indigenous scholars are taking the lead in developing their own methods of Indigenous research suited to data and computationally driven research conditions, current and future technologies, and urgent environmental needs while transforming policies, protocols, and practices that support self-determination. The Technoscience Research Unit is committed to advancing the research in the field of Indigenous Science, Technology, and Environmental Studies (ISTES) at the University of Toronto and globally.
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The TRU is the social science lab of the Acceleration Consortium (AC), which is leading a transformative shift to accelerate materials discovery informed by ethics, economics, and Indigenous science and technology studies. We strive to ensure the ethical integration of Indigenous knowledges and values into research design for materials discovery.
RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS
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We're hosting the Slow Factory's Céline Semaan for "A Woman is a School" Book Tour
The Technoscience Research Unit is excited to host “A Women is a School” Toronto book launch and panel with author and Slow Factory founder Céline Semaan, in conversation with Samira Mohyeddin from On The Line Media and Tai Salih from The Red Ma’at Collective on February 17, 2025 from 12-2PM.
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Celebrating 10 years of Catalyst!
The tenth anniversary of Catalyst: Feminism, theory, technoscience marks a significant milestone in critical scholarship at the intersection of feminist studies, science and technology studies (STS), and critical theory. Catalyst invites scholars, activists, and artists to contribute to the anniversary in a myriad of ways.
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2025 Technoscience Salon: Jayson Maurice Porter
Join us for a lecture by Dr. Jayson Maurice Porter on arsenic, race and empire for the 2025 Technoscience Salon: What is a Chemical? The talk is scheduled for Tuesday 4 March 2025 from 4-6PM.
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"Surfacing: A Sand Island Story" Lecture
Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart delivered the keynote lecture for our gathering of Indigenous scholars working on science, technology and environment. This lecture was part of the new Indigenous Science, Technology & Environment Studies (ISTES) Hub.
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Special Report: Data Colonialism in Canada's Chemical Valley
A collaborative effort with the Yellowhead Institute, this special report describes the permission-to-pollute system in Chemical Valley, explains how industry manipulates data, and looks to community members of Aamjiwnaang First Nation for alternatives to data colonialism.
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Pollution Reporter 2.0
The Pollution Reporter 2.0 App translates and connects government, industry-reported, and peer reviewed sources of data into accessible information about the known health effects of pollutants. You can search by polluter, by chemical pollutant or by health category or symptom. The app assists in attaching responsibility for health harms to chemicals and the corporations that make them.
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Kristen Bos featured on UofT’s Groundbreakers Series
Listen to our co-director speak on “AI, Tech, and Social Justice” and about the research that we are conducting in the field of Indigenous Science, Technology & Environment Studies (ISTES).
PRESS RELEASES AND MEDIA
The TRU has long provided a home at the University of Toronto for scholars working through the history and politics of technoscience.