Julia Verne

Julia Verne is a Professor of Geography at Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) in Mainz, where she chairs the Cultural Geography Research Group. Previously, she held professorships at the University of Bonn (2015–2021) and conducted post-doctoral research at UCLA and Goethe University Frankfurt. Her academic journey includes a B.A. from the University of Bayreuth, an M.A. in Cultural Geography from Royal Holloway University of London, and a PhD from Bayreuth (2010).

Her research focuses on (Postcolonial) Science and Technology Studies, Human-Technology-Environment Relations, and Indian Ocean Studies. Ongoing projects funded by DFG and SSHRC explore technological innovations in agriculture, disaster governance, and humanitarian design. She has also extensively studied translocal mobilities along the Swahili coast and the Indian Ocean.

Teaching emphasizes conceptual approaches to human-nature relations in JGU’s Bachelor and Master programs. Recent publications engage with maritime contact zones, planetary futures, and digital geographies. She serves on editorial boards of Geographische Zeitschrift and chairs the Schule des Sehens creative space at JGU.

Grants include leadership of an international master’s program on environmental risks and human security (collaborating with the United Nations University). No scientific awards are explicitly listed, though her extensive peer-reviewed output demonstrates scholarly impact.

Her work bridges empirical fieldwork and theoretical engagement, particularly through ethnographic methods and interdisciplinary collaborations in transregional studies.