Michaela Fenske

Prof. Dr. Michaela Fenske holds the Chair of European Ethnology / Empirical Cultural Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Würzburg. Her work bridges cultural anthropology, environmental humanities, and multispecies studies, focusing on human-nature relations, spatial research, and historical anthropology. She leads the REKLINEU project on socio-ecological campus transformation and the Multispecies Gardening initiative.

• Research Areas: Multispecies coexistence, Environmental humanities, Crisis narratives, Rural anthropology, Narrative culture

Recent publications explore insect-human relations (2024), multispecies economies (2023), and historical crisis narratives (2023), reflecting her engagement with anthropocene challenges. She has edited Würzburger Studien zur Europäischen Ethnologie and contributed to journals like Historische Anthropologie and Zeitschrift für Volkskunde.

• Scientific Recognition: Heisenberg Fellowship (DFG 2014-2017), Göttingen Dissertation Prize (2004)
• Leadership Roles: Co-editor Historische Anthropologie (2023-), Sustainability Officer (2024-), Leopoldina Biodiversity Working Group (2018-2021)