Sarah Ruth Sippel

Sarah Ruth Sippel is a Professor in Human Geography at the Institute of Geography, University of Münster. Her research spans critical agrarian and agri-food studies, financialization of nature, digital farming technologies, and sustainable livelihoods, with regional focus on the Mediterranean, Australia, and the US. She leads major research projects funded by the German Research Foundation and has received the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship.

• PhD in Geography, Leipzig University (2012)
• Habilitation in Geography, Leipzig University (2020)
• Magister Artium, Middle Eastern Studies and Philosophy, Leipzig University (2007)

Her research explores the financialization of farmland, digital agriculture, and alternative economic futures, with a strong emphasis on political and social geography. She investigates how digital technologies, financial actors, and global capital reshape land use, labor, and food systems, particularly in Australia and Morocco.

Recent publications highlight trends in digital farming, land assetization, and food sovereignty. Her work critically engages with the role of venture capital, startups, and data in transforming agriculture, while also exploring grassroots resistance and alternative economic models.

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship

Sippel has supervised and collaborated with numerous researchers across institutions including the University of Queensland, University of Graz, and the International Institute of Social Studies. She is actively involved in teaching courses on economic geography, globalization, and critical debates in human geography, and leads field schools in Italy. She is currently on parental leave until summer 2025.

She is a principal investigator in the Collaborative Research Centre SFB 1199 ‘Processes of Spatialization Under the Global Condition’ and has led multiple interdisciplinary projects on land, finance, and sustainability.