Credible Collaborations are Cool

Cool Anthropology was founded in 2010 by a social anthropologist and a digital strategist and is dedicated to breaking down walls between the academic ivory tower and communities around the world. We produce live and digital installations, promoting embodied experience and deeper learning, and scale our impact with digital companions and curriculum guides.

We are an ever-growing collective of curious folks, anthropologists, other academics and researchers, technologists, artists, filmmakers, activists, students of every age, and concerned-in-general seeker-types, working together to tell transmedia stories and solve problems. We are the emerging leaders of public scholarship inside (and out) of the discipline of Anthropology and strive to echo and lift the voices and concerns of the least heard.


Core Group


Kristina Baines
sociocultural / medical environmental ecological / cool anthropologist @kristinabaines

Kristina Baines is an Associate Professor at CUNY, Guttman CC and affiliated faculty at CUNY, Graduate School of Public Health. She can usually be found considering how being on a particular patch of Earth affects our wellness, and she attempts to translate all those convoluted data so that humans can understand, use and, perhaps, even enjoy them. She’s been formally trained in applied, sociocultural, ecological and medical anthropology at Florida Atlantic University (BA, MA), the University of Oxford (MSc) and the University of South Florida (PhD). Her interests include environment + health intersections, ecological heritage, phenomenology and educational anthropology. She has conducted research in Belize, New York City, Los Angeles, Guatemala, Peru and South Florida. In some circles, she is known as the “Corn Lady.” Review a comprehensive list of her academic contributions at kristinabaines.com or communicate with her directly via kristina@coolanthropology.com.


Victoria Costa
principal strategist creative / vision / tech director of cool @victorycoast

Victoria Costa is usually found considering potential trajectories for cool, critical thoughts about the world and our everyday lives. She has a background in creative direction and web development, and now works as a consultant in the tech industry on programs and projects that address issues of equity, inclusion, diversity and belonging. She also serves on the advisory boards and governance committees of several community organizations, and has a strong interest in permaculture. She was endorsed as an Honorary Anthropologist at a restaurant by the Med Anths in Oxford ten years ago, has attended countless anthropological meetings and conferences since 2004, and is stoked to enable so many brilliant anthropologists to re/consider how ideas are translated and released unto the world. She strongly believes that information must be free for consideration and utilization beyond the closed circuits of our niche communities. Learn more and connect on her LinkedIn or hit her up directly — victoria@coolanthropology.com.


Baird Campbell
sociocultural / media queer / cool anthropologist @bairdcampbell

Baird Campbell is PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology at Rice University. His dissertation “The Archive of the Self: Trans Self-Making and Social Media in Chile,” brings together queer/trans studies, studies of the archive, and science and technology studies to explore how trans activists in Chile use social media to understand and shape their gender identities. He is also the managing editor of Platypus, the CASTAC blog, where he has made accessible and public-facing scholarship one of his main priorities. In the precious moments when he is not writing his dissertation, Baird enjoys cooking, singing, deconstructing popular media through an anthropological lens, and hanging out with his husband and two cats. Check out bairdcampbell.com and reach him directly — baird@coolanthropology.com.


Hannia Delgado
design / storytelling social media management @hanniadelgado

Hannia Delgado graduated from CUNY, Baruch College and earned a BBA in Marketing Management with a concentration in Digital Marketing. She has an obsession with plants and can usually be found wandering around a plant shop or nursery. She loves creativity and losing herself in the process, especially when she’s painting. She came to Cool Anthropology wanting to use her skills and stay informed, and the work has brightened her world — her favorite Cool Anthropologist is Linda Black Elk, but she is constantly surprised by the amazing work of our team and the many incredible anthropologists whose voices we uplift. Initiate a connection — hannia@coolanthropology.com.