Composting Mathematics: Cascading Processes of Composition and Decomposition in an Era of Climate Crisis

Composting Mathematics: Cascading Processes of Composition and Decomposition in an Era of Climate Crisis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Composting Mathematics: Cascading Processes of Composition and Decomposition in an Era of Climate Crisis Mallory Mattimore-Malan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9272338/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This autoethnographic assemblage traces composting as a site of mathematical sensemaking and socio-ecological knowing. I proceed from the conviction that understanding mathematics as practice is inseparable from the project of living. If I want to understand whether mathematics is formatting separability or enabling multispecies flourishing, I must first examine my own mathematical practices. Three questions guide this project: Where does emergent mathematical sensemaking support a commitment to living well—in a body, with a community, on the planet? When do rigorous commitments to precision and abstraction fall short of or subsume other ways of knowing? What role does mathematics play in socio-ecological sensemaking at scale? Sustainable futures require not just new knowledge, but new habits of attention, action, and relation. The socio-ecological turn entails a process of reexamining the ways of knowing and doing which structure mathematics and our relationship with the living world. Enactivism provides an overarching framework for understanding how patterns of action format ways of knowing. My central contribution is a sequence of explorations in and through composting. Drawing on ethnomathematics, metabolic literacies, and radical artifactualism, I position the compost box as a tool which instantiates a cascading process of coming to know. Finally, I explore an abstraction of these enacted practices through an agent-based model built to simulate socio-ecological relationships scaled across place and time. I call for a shift away from treating socio-ecological concerns as contexts for application and toward designing opportunities for sustained participation in practices that matter. autoethnography mathematics education enactivism composting socio-ecological agent-based model Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9272338","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":625430251,"identity":"ff91fcb1-a997-4fcc-ab8e-75210a38f1be","order_by":0,"name":"Mallory Mattimore-Malan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAtUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCBAYGOX4Ik5kY9cyMDUAtxpINJGkBkokGB4jVott+/viDhzk2CcbXjj+TYKiwTmwgpMXsTDJjQ+K2tDyz2zlmEgxn0onQcgCs5XAxUAubBGPbYSK0nH8M1pK4eXb6MwnGf8RouQGxJXGDdIKZBGMDUVoeG84A+sVY4naOsUXCsXRjIhyW+ODjz202cvyz0x/e+FBjLUtQCypIIE35KBgFo2AUjAJcAAA7hEIVGTQeOgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Michigan State University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mallory","middleName":"","lastName":"Mattimore-Malan","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-30 23:08:50","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9272338/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9272338/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109203730,"identity":"a9da623b-3f9f-4dae-83ec-715a3054f23f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-13 14:44:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1118108,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"CompostingMathematicsESM7000.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9272338/v1_covered_a635d608-bc11-49b7-9813-5a5f34fa10a2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Composting Mathematics: Cascading Processes of Composition and Decomposition in an Era of Climate Crisis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"autoethnography, mathematics education, enactivism, composting, socio-ecological, agent-based model","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9272338/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9272338/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis autoethnographic assemblage traces composting as a site of mathematical sensemaking and socio-ecological knowing. 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