Doctoral Candidates
Scientists from various disciplines and universities are currently working on their doctoral theses in the field of Global Environmental History and Environmental Humanities under the supervision of Prof. Simone M. Müller.
Simone M. Müller is also Speaker of the International Doctoral Program Re-Thinking Environment. The Environmental Humanities and the Ecological Transformation of Society, funded by the Bavarian Elite Network.
International Doctorate Program "Rethinking Environment" (IDK)
Doctoral Candidates
Regina Bichler, MS
Ph.D. student at the Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich
studied Chemistry, Biochemistry and Japanese studies in Munich, Pavia and Osaka and is part of the DFG Emmy Noether research group “Hazardous Travels. Ghost Acres and the Global Waste Economy”.
In her PhD research "The “Zero Waste Cities“ Munich and Kamikatsu: waste prevention, recycling and the integration of technological innovations to establish sustainable waste practices", she analyzes social practices related to consumption and waste in Munich, Kamikatsu, and Kyoto.
E-Mail: regina.bichler@campus.lmu.de
Jan Brinkmann, MA
Ph.D. student at the University of Augsburg
studied history at the University of Göttingen, then worked as a research assistant at the Herzog August Library, and is now part of the International Doctoral Program: Rethinking Environment at the Environmental Science Center (WZU) at the University of Augsburg.
In his doctoral thesis, he examines the relationship between humans and honeybees since the 18th century from a knowledge and environmental history perspective. In addition to bees, his research focuses on global history, human-animal studies, and the history of emotions and senses.
E-Mail: jan.brinkmann@uni-a.de
Livia Cahn, MA
Ph.D. student at the Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich
trained in anthropology at the University of Cambridge, and at the EHESS in Paris and is part of the international doctorate program, Rethinking Environment.
Her research work titled „Digging into Core Collections: Underground Environments” is an ethnographic inquiry into how two historical collections of drill core samples are written into contemporary climate discourses related to the underground. You can read more about it here.
E-Mail: livia.cahn@rcc.lmu.de
Bruno Fuchs, MA
Ph.D. student at the University of Augsburg
studied social sciences and history (B.A.) at the University of Erfurt and historic sciences (M.A.) at the University of Augsburg, the Università di Siena and the Università di Torino.
In his doctoral thesis, “Blossoming Landscapes. An Environmental History of the Treuhandanstalt, 1990–2000,” he examines how ecological legacies of the past affected the transformation of the East German economy by the Treuhandanstalt.
E-Mail: bruno.fuchs@uni-a.de
Caroline Meier, MA
Ph.D. student at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE)
studied Sports Management and Communication (B.A., M.Sc.) at the German Sport University Cologne, and International Relations (M.A.) at Leiden University and is part of the graduate program at the Biosphere Reserves Institute at the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development.
In her doctoral project "UNESCO retold - a Latin American perspective on Ecology and Economy", she is investigating the role of Latin American delegates in the founding phase of UNESCO with regard to the importance of nature and the environment.
E-Mail: Caroline.Meier@hnee.de
Danielle Schmitz, MA
Ph.D. student at the Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich
studied economics with courses specialised in global change ecology and energy. She completed her BA in Economics from Calgary, Canada, before moving to Bayreuth, Germany, to complete her MA in Philosophy & Economics.
Her Ph.D. thesis "How Economists “See” the Environment: Textual Framing and Research Bias in Current Economic Research on the Environment, 2016-today" combines economics and ecology to study research framing in economic studies of the environment. Read more.
E-Mail: d.schmitz@campus.lmu.de
Sven Seelinger, MA
Ph.D candidate at the University of Augsburg
studied history at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg and holds a master's degree in History. He then worked as a research assistant at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and is now a member of the International Doctoral Program: Rethinking Environment of the Environmental Science Center ((WZU) at the University of Augsburg.
His doctoral thesis “Pasture, Border, and Battlefield. A Global Object-Ecology of Barbed Wire (1874-1989)” focuses on barbed wire as a link between human and nonhuman-centered segments of historiography. As an iron thread, it demonstrates the relationships between mobility and immobility, violence and deterrence regarding their role in transforming the animate world. You can find more on the topic
here.
E-Mail: sven.seelinger@uni-a.de
Completed Doctoral Dissertations
Dr. des. Ayushi Dhawan
Ph.D. student at the Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich
studied history at the Universit of Delhi and University of Leiden. She joined the Rachel Carson Center DFG Emmy-Noether Research Group “Hazardous Travels: Ghost Acres and the Global Waste Economy” in September 2017.
In her dissertation project, she explores India’s shipbreaking business in Alang, Gujarat and the motivations behind the transboundary movement of toxic waste.
Today Ayushi Dhawan is a scholar at the Azim Premji University in Bhopal. Link
Dr. Maximilian Feichtner
Ph.D. student at the Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich
studied Spanish, political science, and social sciences in Freiburg, Cape Town, and Bangkok. He worked as a research associate on resonance effects in human interaction before joining the Rachel Carson Center DFG Emmy-Noether Research Group "Hazardous Travels: Ghost Acres and the Global Waste Economy" in April 2017.
His PhD project traces the large-scale transformations triggered by petroleum exploration and production in the Amazon from the 1960s to the 1990s. The Project has been published by the Cambdrige University Press under the Title: The Metamorphosis of the Amazon. An Environmental History of Oil Extraction in Ecuador
Today Maximilian Feichtner works for the PD - Berater der öffentlichen Hand GmbH. Link
Dr. des. Jonas Stuck
Ph.D. student at the Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich
studied history and political science at the Freie Universität Berlin and the Sciences Po Lyon. In October 2017 he joined the DFG Emmy-Noether Research Group “Hazardous Travels. Ghost Acres and the Global Waste Economy”.
His PhD research project focuses on the toxic waste trade between the two Germanys during and after the Cold War from an Environmental Humanities point of view. His general research interests include global history, visual and public history and environmental history.
Today Jonas Stuck is the Project Manager for the Andrea von Braun Stiftung. Link