Dr Ernesto Schwartz Marin

I am a Science and Technology Studies scholar working in the fields of biomedicine, forensics and citizen science. I conduct in-depth ethnographic research of race & genomics, and develop participatory action research models to intervene in humanitarian crises via DNA bio banking, grass-roots databases, and citizen-led science.

I am currently developing research on data justice, citizen-sensing and alternative approaches to scientific innovation in the Global South in spaces like Mexico, Colombia and Indonesia. My current research projects are: Mobile Solutions Against the Mexican Kidnapping Epidemic (Newton Fund-ESRC 2016-19) and Data Justice in Mexico's Multiveillant Society (ESRC Transformative 2018-20). My research has attracted vast public attention since Mexicans are currently dealing with more than 61,000 disappearances (according to the Mexican government) in a context characterised by the complicity of authorities and organised crime. For a brief audio-visual taste of Citizen-Led Forensic watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj2JS5kamQk&feature=youtu.be.

Citizen-Led Technologies

In 2015 we co-created an independent forensic DNA database –with ~500 samples and ~1000 testimonials of violence– that was tailored to the needs, expertise & sensitivities of relatives of the disappeared (www.cienciaforenseciudadana.org). I also coproduced training materials & on-line tutorials for collecting forensic DNA and a song to reach communities in which radio was the main form of communication (ES/M00063X/1). In our Newton Fund project Mobile Solutions Against the Mexican Kidnapping Epidemic (MAKE), centred in digital technologies (ES/P005918/1), I led the creation of a suite of CLS approaches to combat kidnapping in Mexico, including:

• A handbook/comic book informed by over 60 interviews with victims and offenders. The digital version is accessible via our MAKE Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/makemx_);

• A co-produced mobile app to create emergency response units & share intelligence amongst families/friends, available at: (https://apps.apple.com/mx/app/make/id1483966869?l=en)
• A web page & a series of short videos to disseminate the project outputs (www.amorsecuestrado.com).
• Cowriting, codirecting & coproducing with a crew of young film-makers six soap opera (Telenovelas) episodes dealing with different types of kidnapping for dissemination & impact (www.amorsecuestrado.com).
• In our current project grappling with data justice in Mexico (ES/R009945/1), we are designing a comic book & coding an app centred on safe mobility, connected with our previous digital technologies.

Biography:

In 2006 when I first engaged with 'Genomics in Society' I had just recently read “Rules for the Human Zoo: a response to the Letter on Humanism” by Peter Sloterdijk, and I was so inspired by this paper that I decided to achieve a close ethnographic understanding of science, specifically the new genetics. My quest took me to Egenis in 2007, where I completed my master and PhD in 2011. A decade after I first arrived to Exeter University from Mexico City, I am delighted to be back as Lecturer in Sociology.

Currently, I am the PI of an ESRC transformative project entitled: Data Justice in Mexico’s Multiveillant Society (2018-2020), which explores new ways to engage with big data in order to tackle the inherent asymmetries to social media, and surveillance capitalism. I am also the Co-PI of a multi-national Newton Fund project: Mobile Solutions Against the Mexican Kidnapping Epidemic (2016-2019)spanning Mexico, US and Colombia, investigating the multiple (im)mobilities related to kidnapping, in order to create a citizen-led counter-kidnapping system, via the creation of a mobile apps and grass-root governance mechanisms.

My current projects build on my experience as principal investigator in the ESRC transformative research grant 2014-16 entitled “Citizen-Led Forensics”. During this project, I directed a team of 5 researchers, and together with relatives of the disappeared in Mexico we formed an agenda-setting citizen-led organisation in charge of governing and managing a DNA forensic database.

Other information:

cienciaforenseciudadana.com