In this edition of In Conversation, Dr. Michael Horswell engages with Professors Dr. Carol Bishop Mills & Dr. Kevin Wagner, Co-Directors of the PolCom Lab in the College of Arts & Letters at Florida Atlantic University. The PolCom Lab investigates and analyzes public opinion and political trends nationwide, focusing on Florida.

Dr. Carol Bishop Mills is a Professor and Director of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies at Florida Atlantic University, and the co-director of the FAU PolCom Lab. She earned her Ph.D. in Communication from Purdue University and is known for her extensive research in relational communication, particularly in complex dynamics such as teasing, bullying, harassment, and frenemyships. Her recent work focuses on bullying within academic settings, providing critical insights into how these behaviors impact both individuals and institutions. Dr. Mills has published widely on these topics and previously co-chaired the National Communication Association’s Anti-Bullying Task Force and served as the editor for the newsletter for the Global Listening Centre.

Kevin Wagner is a Professor of Political Science, Co-Director of the PolCom Lab and Associate Dean of Research in the College of Arts & Letters at Florida Atlantic University. He teaches courses on American politics, political organizations, public opinion, judicial politics, and media in politics. Wagner’s research has primarily centered around understanding political change in democratic systems including shifts caused by technological developments. His expertise has been featured in leading publications including the New York Times and American Review of Politics. Dr. Wagner earned a J.D. from the University of Florida and previously worked as a practicing attorney before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Florida.

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Annette LaRocco, an associate professor in FAU’s Department of Political Science. In this upcoming episode, Dr. LaRocco discusses several topics, including conservation politics, how studying abroad helped shape her career, and her new book, The Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana.

Why do states choose to set aside land for national parks and other protected areas? How do these decisions impact their citizens and structure their economies? How and why do states decide to make governing their environments a political priority? These are questions explored by Annette LaRocco in her book The Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and years of extensive fieldwork in Botswana, LaRocco argues that the seemingly mundane processes of conserving landscapes and wildlife are, in fact, deeply political acts that are essential to state-building for many countries in the postcolonial Global South. Conservation itself is political and impacts human populations and societies, irrespective of its ecological or biological impacts. In her new book, she explores how conservation is a way that states exert their authority over people, places, and resources and how it structures economic relationships at local, national, and global levels.

Dr. LaRocco, Ph.D., teaches classes in African politics, environmental politics, the politics of global development, and international relations at Florida Atlantic University's Department of Political Science. . Her research interests include the study of political implications of biodiversity conservation and other environmental policies, specifically in regions of the postcolonial Global South. She has conducted fieldwork in southern Africa for over a decade, most recently as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Botswana and Zimbabwe.

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Annette LaRocco, an associate professor in FAU’s Department of Political Science. In this upcoming episode, Dr. LaRocco discusses several topics, including conservation politics, how studying abroad helped shape her career, and her new book, The Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana.

Why do states choose to set aside land for national parks and other protected areas? How do these decisions impact their citizens and structure their economies? How and why do states decide to make governing their environments a political priority? These are questions explored by Annette LaRocco in her book The Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and years of extensive fieldwork in Botswana, LaRocco argues that the seemingly mundane processes of conserving landscapes and wildlife are, in fact, deeply political acts that are essential to state-building for many countries in the postcolonial Global South. Conservation itself is political and impacts human populations and societies, irrespective of its ecological or biological impacts. In her new book, she explores how conservation is a way that states exert their authority over people, places, and resources and how it structures economic relationships at local, national, and global levels.

Dr. LaRocco, Ph.D., teaches classes in African politics, environmental politics, the politics of global development, and international relations at Florida Atlantic University's Department of Political Science. . Her research interests include the study of political implications of biodiversity conservation and other environmental policies, specifically in regions of the postcolonial Global South. She has conducted fieldwork in southern Africa for over a decade, most recently as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Botswana and Zimbabwe.