Postdoc work

Since finishing my PhD at Edinburgh in February I have been fortunate enough to join the University of Helsinki to continue investigating human microbe relationships, antimicrobial resistance and solving ecological problems. I will be postdoctoral researcher with the Finnish Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence in Antimicrobial Resistance Research (FIMAR) and the Centre for the Social Study of Microbes.

FIMAR

I am proud to have joined the Finnish Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence in Antimicrobial Resistance Research (FIMAR) as a postdoctoral researcher. The project aims to unravel the problem of AMR as a joint effort by experts in biology, medicine, sociology and bioinformatics. “Our integrative approach will build a foundation for science-based actions against AMR and transform how AMR is studied. We aim to: 1. collect, combine and analyse data that are usually assessed separately such as human AMR data, environmental AMR data and sociological data. 2. connect these data with evolutionary experiments for a mechanistic understanding of the process. 3. conduct integrative data analysis to identify genetic, phenotypic, environmental and sociological features and mechanisms behind the AMR risk. ​

Our integrative approach will build a foundation for science-based actions against AMR and be transformative on how AMR is studied”

The CSSM

I also so excited to have joined Centre for the Social Study of Microbes at the University of Helsinki. The CSSM is a hub for social scientists and artists conducting research on human-microbial relations. We aim to develop theory and methods to better make sense of the complex relations between humans, nonhumans, microbes, and their environments.

“Microbes are not only biological entities but also shape, and are shaped by, our social worlds. Relationships with microbes raise profound challenges for social theory, which demand new social scientific language and methodologies for describing and explaining the complex and entwined relationships between human and nonhuman animals, microbes, and the environment. Not only is this work theoretically motivated, it is key to developing sustainable methods of planetary co-existence in the Anthropocene.

The creation of innovative knowledge about these new relations requires novel, inclusive, and egalitarian ways of knowing and the CSSM has a strong emphasis on collaboration. The Centre is establishing an exploratory setting in which new non-hierarchical collaborative practices are developed, seeking inspiration from how the slime mould evolves without a central organising body.

The Centre is located in Helsinki, Finland, and hosts international research fellows and an art residency and organises experimental social theory and methodology workshops, academic seminars,and a yearly PhD school, and provides funding for international workshops”