A Senior Capstone Experience by Kami Lentzsch ’25

Submitted to the Department of Anthropology

Advised by Dr. Scott Erich 

Contributor Biography: Kami graduated from Washington College summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Anthropology with a minor in Chesapeake Regional Studies. As a senior, she was awarded department honors in Anthropology, Lambda Alpha Senior Award for Anthropology, Middendorf Scholar for Environmental Science, and the Ralph Thorton ‘40 Research Prize for Best Proposal. One of her favorite memories is traveling to Peru to study indigenous stonework as part of a research grant funded by the Libby & Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows. She is currently a member of the Chesapeake Conservation and Climate Corps with Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Tidewater and Ecosystem Assessment.

Description: “Foreman’s Patch: Learning from Macroinvertebrates” is a piece of patchwork ethnography on the more-than-human world, inspired by the works of Anna Tsing and Donna Haraway. It grows out of time spent in the field as a scientist, curious about the lives of aquatic macroinvertebrates, their relationship with the planet, and our relationship with them. The piece asks: How can the study of something so small—macroinvertebrates—teach us about what it means to be human in this era of environmental change, the Anthropocene? And what can we gain by understanding the feral nature of both macroinvertebrates and plastics in global and local systems?

Read Kami’s SCE below: