April 2020
Principal Investigator in the DFG-AHRC funded project “Historicising Natures, Cultures and Laws in the Etosha-Kunene Conservation Territories of Namibia: From Deutsch Südwestafrika’s “Game Reserve No. 2” to “Kunene People’s Park”? (Kunene Etosha Histories)
2017 - 2020
Researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre 806 Our Way To Europe, University of Cologne
Research Title: Mapping and orientation among hunter-gatherers in Africa
Research Topics: perceptions of the environment, relational ontologies, cultural mapping, cartography, cognition and orientation
2016 - 2017
Coordinator of the Competence Area VI Cultures and Societies in Transition, University of Cologne
2008 - 2015
Research Coordinator and Expert on San Populations of the Land, Environment and Development Project (LEAD) of the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) Windhoek
• Expert involvement in the preparation of the legal land claim of the Hai||om
• Planning and conducting research studies, e.g. on the situation of charcoal workers in Namibia; climate change and indigenous peoples; the livelihoods of San in Namibia
• Facilitating strategic planning in the LEAD project
• Policy development, capacity building, advocacy, networking with other stakeholders
2005 - 2007
Researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre 389 Arid Climate, Adaptation and Cultural Innovation in Africa (ACACIA), University of Cologne
Research Title: Vulnerability and Risk Management in the Farming Sector in the Kunene region, Namibia during the 20th Century
Research Topics: land reform, settlement history, farming strategies, vulnerability in agriculture
2005
University of Cologne, Germany: PhD, Social and Cultural Anthropology
1998 - 2004
Researcher at the Collaborative Research Centre 389 Arid Climate, Adaptation and Cultural Innovation in Africa (ACACIA), University of Cologne
Research Title: Crisis Management and Risk Minimization among Pastoralists, Peasants, and (former) Foragers in Southern Africa
Research Topic: History and Identity of the Hai||om in North-Central Namibia
1998
University of Cologne, Germany, MA, Social and Cultural Anthropology