About me

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Happy to be part of the program, I am a student who is originally based in Munich, with a background in chemistry,
environmental studies, literature and philosophy. I have worked in a food chemistry laboratory for the past few years, and will continue to work there during the IDK for a few hours per week. My interest in the humanities was sparked at the Rachel Carson Center, when I was part of the certificate program. I am now eager to widen my knowledge in the environmental humanities and hope to bring that interest together, in a fruitful way, with my chemical background. My connection to the environment mostly comes from my growing-up in a village which is both very beautifully located at the Isar but also has a nuclear power plant, in which most of my family was working. Therefore, the question of ‘what is natural?’ also has a personal meaning for me and I will be happy to investigate it in such a diverse and open environment like the IDK!

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Chemicals as Foreign Objects. Are Chemicals Unnatural?
Oftentimes, chemicals like glyphosate, nitrate or radioactive substances are perceived as ‘unnatural.’ My project puts the ‘unnaturalness’ of chemicals into questions and tries to establish new ways of perceiving chemicals in
nature, in food, and in our bodies. My aim is to work towards a critical aesthetics of chemicals in the environment.