Within i-CONN, Marcel will be working on the topics of knowledge networks and knowledge emergence. His research aims to understand the emergence of connectivity science in practice, where the ITN network i-CONN will serve as a case study.

Marcel’s background lies in the Social Sciences and (Environmental) Geography and he is particularly interested in research questions regarding development/environment trade-offs, Food Security and Biodiversity Management. Marcel has gathered significant experience in the field, e.g. on assignments in Nicaragua and Peru. For example, in the Peruvian Amazon, he explored the complex socio-ecological system and political economy around oil palm as a crop and, more specifically, he scrutinised proposed biodiversity conservation measures for oil palm farming at the smallholder level in the Peruvian Amazon.

Moreover, Marcel has been working as a Junior Researcher at BOKU in Vienna, where his research focused on the concept of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES) and its application in the political arena. His research was looking at the interlinkages between socially held values by constituencies and political strategies towards Forest Ecosystem Services that are pursued accordingly. He employed qualitative methods including frame analysis to analyse policies and see how the framing of FES in national forest-related policies can lead to policy integration or conflict. Furthermore, he was responsible for the conceptualisation and implementation of a seven-country online survey exploring values and attitudes people hold with regards to FES.

I-CONN certainly is a great platform and network to learn and grow together and to collectively reflect on what it means to share, shape and create knowledge and live inter- and multi-disciplinarity.

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