While critiques of the conduct, culture, and application of biophysical research aim to steer scientific fields towards equity and justice, we argue that these analyses are removed from the direct role of oppressive social systems in shaping the very patterns and processes that biophysical researchers study. We introduce critical ecology, a new area of environmental research providing a framework for integrating social critiques of science practices into a broader empirical analysis of human oppression as a global driver of environmental change. Critical ecology aims to allow social critiques of the environment and science to inform testable biophysical hypotheses.
