Vision: A world where living cultures, traditional knowledge, and the relationship between people and nature are recognised as essential to our shared future, not remnants of the past.
MISSION: To carry out field-based ethnographic research, storytelling, and advisory work that documents living cultures, supports community knowledge, and helps institutions understand the human relationships that shape conservation, development, displacement, and cultural heritage.
ETHNOMAD begins from a simple conviction: the future of conservation cannot be separated from the future of culture, and neither can be separated from the lives of the people who carry knowledge of place.
Landscapes are not empty. Forests, rivers, mountains, deserts, wetlands, islands, and coasts are also places of memory, livelihood, language, belief, inheritance, and belonging. To protect nature while ignoring the people who have lived with it is to misunderstand both.
Our work looks at the larger picture: how communities sustain identity under pressure, how development reshapes land and belonging, how displacement breaks cultural continuity, and how traditional knowledge continues to guide relationships between people and the natural world.
ETHNOMAD’s approach is grounded in presence, not extraction. Research is carried out through listening, participation, long-term fieldwork, and ethical documentation, with emphasis on cultural continuity, local authority, and practical relevance. Outputs include ethnographic studies, cultural impact assessments, field guides, exhibitions, training, films, public storytelling, and advisory support for institutions working in complex social and environmental contexts.
Fading Cultures is ETHNOMAD’s flagship publishing project and public field journal. It documents this work through long-form essays, photography, film, and educational resources. It does not treat culture as spectacle, nostalgia, or decoration. It presents living heritage as knowledge, resilience, and evidence of how human communities continue to adapt, remember, and endure.
Together, ETHNOMAD and Fading Cultures form a sustained, project-driven body of work dedicated to documenting living cultures, supporting ethical practice, and preserving knowledge that cannot be replaced once lost.
Our purpose is to show that the future of the planet cannot be understood through nature alone. It must also be understood through people, memory, culture, and the living knowledge of place.
Tom Corcoran
PhD, MSc, BSc, MM, ACP
Dr Tom Corcoran is a conservation ethnographer, filmmaker, and humanitarian whose fieldwork spans more than four decades across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas. He has lived and worked in high mountain communities in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan; along nomadic routes in the Middle East; in coastal settlements from Karachi to Indonesia; and among rural and tribal communities across Madagascar, Tanzania, Algeria, and Bhutan.
A National Geographic Society Global Explorer, he is a recipient of the European Outdoor Conservation Award and the FORD Award for Conservation Films for his work documenting Indigenous knowledge, community resilience, and human–environment relationships.
His work focuses on how communities maintain skill, meaning, and continuity under pressure. Through long-term ethnographic fieldwork, film, and long-form storytelling, he documents traditional knowledge systems, oral histories, craft practices, and land-based ways of life shaped by development, conflict, and environmental change.
Dr Corcoran has served as a senior advisor to United Nations agencies, international NGOs, and national governments on cultural heritage and humanitarian response, including roles in post-disaster reconstruction and displacement-affected settings. He is the CEO of ETHNOMAD, a platform dedicated to documenting living cultures with accuracy and care, and the Editor-in-Chief of Fading Cultures Magazine.
Sagar Dibra
Sagar Dibra is a communications and field production specialist from Bangladesh, of Indigenous Garo heritage, with a Master’s degree in English Literature. His work supports ethnographic and documentary projects through film coordination, production logistics, and communications.
He works across editorial support, content editing, and outreach, helping translate field-based research and documentary work into clear public narratives. His role includes supporting filming and documentation, producing newsletters and communications materials, and engaging with university students and civil society organisations involved in cultural and research initiatives.
At ETHNOMAD, Sagar supports documentary and ethnographic projects through communications and production coordination, helping ensure that Indigenous and underrepresented stories are documented accurately and shared responsibly.
Jasmine San Jose - Aniukova
Jasmine is a seasoned global explorer with a background in Business Administration and Tourism and is the driving force behind the promotions and marketing strategy at ETHNOMAD and the Fading Cultures Magazine. Born in the Philippines, she embarked on her journey of discovery at a young age, leaving her homeland to pursue a career that would span continents and oceans. Over the past decade, Jasmine has navigated the world aboard cruisers and sailboats, immersing herself in the vibrant diversity of cultures, landscapes, and traditions.
From the bustling markets of Southeast Asia to the tranquil shores of the Mediterranean, Jasmine has cultivated a unique understanding of the intricate threads that weave humanity together. Her global perspective is deeply personal—her own family’s story reflects a beautiful diversity, with roots in the Philippines and connections across three continents, scattered between Eastern Europe and the United States.
Jasmine’s experiences have instilled in her a profound appreciation for the world’s cultural richness, making her a vital advocate for the ETHNOMAD mission to document, preserve, and celebrate traditions at risk of fading away. Her work draws inspiration from her love of storytelling and her belief that every culture, no matter how small or remote, has lessons to teach about resilience, identity, and humanity’s shared journey.
Fotik Dibra
Manager, The Garo Experience: Fortik Dibra is a Garo, or A·chik Mande, community member from northern Bangladesh and a lifelong supporter of Garo cultural life. Since his youth, he has worked to keep Garo traditions visible and valued, from food, music, and language to the everyday practices that connect people to land, family, and community.
He has worked with World Vision as a field worker across northern Bangladesh, gaining deep experience in rural communities, local livelihoods, and community development. This background gives him a strong understanding of both Garo life and the wider pressures facing Indigenous and rural communities today.
As Manager of The Garo Experience and Nalikhali Guesthouse, Fortik coordinates guest stays, local hosting, food, village activities, and community engagement. He acts as a cultural bridge between visitors and the Garo community, helping guests encounter A·chik Mande life with respect, curiosity, and care.
For Fortik, The Garo Experience is not simply a guesthouse. It is a way to share living Garo culture, support local livelihoods, and strengthen pride in a heritage that continues to adapt while remaining deeply rooted in place.
Farhana Akter
Farhana Akter is a writer and researcher based in Bangladesh, with a background in Communication and Journalism. Her work focuses on human–environment relationships, including human–wildlife coexistence, nature, and the lived impacts of climate change on everyday life.
Her writing and research are grounded in field engagement with communities living at ecological and social frontiers. She documents how people adapt to environmental change, negotiate relationships with wildlife, and sustain cultural knowledge in landscapes shaped by rivers, forests, and shifting climates.
At ETHNOMAD, Farhana contributes as a writer and field researcher, supporting ethnographic documentation and long-form storytelling across Bangladesh. Her work emphasises careful observation, contextual research, and accurate representation of communities navigating environmental uncertainty and social change.
"Bringing Stories to Life Through the People Who Live Them
