SW New Mexico News

New Mexico State University is set to host a forum featuring Katie Richards, an assistant professor of archaeology at NMSU. This event is part of the Cambios Climate Change Speaker Series, which aims to facilitate discussions on climate change causes and consequences. The talk will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 29, at the Rio Grande Theatre in Las Cruces. It is open to the public without charge.

Richards will present "The Archaeology of Climate Change: How Past Peoples Adapted to Changing Environments in the American Southwest." Her research focuses on pottery production and distribution as a means to explore identity and migration issues in the precontact far northern American Southwest. She will address how changing conditions in this region affected local cultures.

The presentation will highlight how increasing drought, extreme heat, and altered precipitation patterns have disrupted indigenous cultures' traditional food sources, water access, land-tied cultural practices, and ecological balance. These disruptions pose challenges to maintaining their way of life and may impact their spiritual well-being due to reliance on the natural environment for sustenance and cultural identity.