Jan Zumoberhaus
jan.zumoberhaus@unifr.ch
+41 26 300 9019
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Diploma Assistant / Assistant paid with third-party funding,
Department of Geosciences
PER 14 bu. 3.328
Ch. du Musée 4
1700 Fribourg
Biography
I am a PhD student and diploma assistant in Human Geography at the Department of Geosciences. My research broadly explores human–nature relations, with a particular focus on the epistemologies, practices, and politics of plant and vegetation management and conservation.
In my PhD project, I investigate how individuals and society attempt to understand and manage the adaptation of forests to climate change. Using a case study in Upper and Central Valais in the Swiss Alps, I examine how possible future forests emerge through the interplay of biophysical causal powers, epistemic processes, embodied agency, and social struggles.
Methodologically, my research is based on qualitative interviews, documentary analysis, and on-site observation. Analytically, my work is informed by the dialectical thinking of Critical Realism, especially its concepts of causality, referential detachment, the axiological moment, and identity-in-difference.
In addition to my research, I have experience in university-level teaching, field botany, academic journal proofreading, and library and archival work.
Research interests:
- Human-nature relations
- History and theory of science
- Plant and vegetation ecology
- Environmental history
- Critical social theory
- Critical realism