School of Architecture + Planning's Elspeth Iralu named Career Enhancement Fellow

University of New Mexico School of Architecture + Planning assistant professor Elspeth Iralu is one of 29 named nationally as new Career Enhancement Fellows this year. This fellowship releases her from her teaching obligations in the Department of Community and Regional Planning for the 2026-27 academic year and provides funding and professional development support. The 2026 cohort has 13 junior faculty members receiving 12-month fellowships and 16 receiving six-month fellowships.

"It's an honor to be recognized for my campus engagement and research, and I appreciate this rare opportunity to be able to devote full-time effort to a major research project," Iralu said.

"I'm also excited for the collaborative and community-building potential of this award, which will allow me to connect with fellows and mentors. I'm looking forward to further developing my scholarly community and learning from new colleagues," she said.

Iralu's research focuses on how Indigenous peoples represent their relationship to land, space, and place: on their terms, with their methods, for their own purposes. Her fellowship will allow her to complete her first book, "The Land, the Earth, the Sky: Mapping Global Indigenous Relations." The book explores Indigenous geography analyzing Indigenous methodologies and cartographic practices, the global politics of indigeneity, and the production and distribution of geospatial imagery.

Her research analyzes the political landscapes of Indigenous territorial struggle, using visual methods to answer urgent questions about human relation to land, geospatial data visualization, and the political possibilities of Indigeneity. The book considers why and how the aerial perspective has been normalized as an intimate way of seeing Indigenous territory.

"We're thrilled that Professor Iralu's work is being recognized and underwritten by this fellowship. It's important work in the study of Indigenous space and place," Rolf Pendall, CRP Department professor and chair, said. "It underscores how planning helps us work toward the world we envision."

The Career Enhancement Fellowship is funded by the Mellon Foundation and administered by the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. The 2026 Career Enhancement Fellows' research advances the disciplines of community and regional planning, along with theater studies, anthropology, geography, global studies, and more. This year's Fellows represent institutions across the country. Selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants, Fellows are expanding their perspectives within their disciplines and are committed to research and service that encourage critical thinking and innovative problem-solving on campus.

For information about the UNM School of Architecture + Planning and the Department of Community + Regional Planning, visit saap.unm.edu.