Laura Matt

Laura MattNetwork Member

Laura is a PhD candidate at the University of Bayreuth. In 2016 she received her Bachelor of Arts in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Bayreuth with a thesis entitled: “Willkommen im Anthropozän – die Überwindung der Natur-Kultur Dichotomie in den Mensch-Umwelt-Beziehungen“. She completed her Master of Arts in Social Anthropology at the University of Halle in 2020 with a thesis on “Living in a forest landscape – landscape changes, hunting practices and timber cutting in Northern Sierra Leone”. In March 2020, Laura started working at the University of Bayreuth as a PhD researcher and develops a new project inspired by her previous work. Her main interest and expertise include human-environment interactions, multi-species ethnography, (feminist) Science and Technology Studies, Anthropocene discourses and (environmental) health.

Current position
PhD Researcher
University affiliation
University of Bayreuth

Research

On September 10, 2020, the first wild boar infected with African Swine Fever (ASF) was confirmed in Germany (Brandenburg). Laura examines how the ASF outbreak is experienced by various affected actors. How is the virus encountered? How is it made visible? Which logics inform the biosafety measures and how do they materialize? How are these measures contested by local actors? How are human-wild boar relations changing? Whom and what does the ASF activate, which discourses does it fuel visible?

Publications