Bettina Stoetzer

Bettina Stoetzer is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at MIT, affiliated with the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from UC Santa Cruz and an M.A. in Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies from the University of Göttingen. Her research examines intersections of ecology, globalization, and social inequality in Europe, particularly focusing on migration dynamics and environmental justice. Prior to MIT, she was a Harper Fellow at the University of Chicago Society of Fellows.

Her book Ruderal City: Ecologies of Migration, Race, and Urban Nature (2022) analyzes how human-environment relations shape urban citizenship in Berlin, winning multiple awards including the Forsythe Prize and DAAD’s Best Book Award. Current research explores wildlife mobility in climate-changed ecosystems and its implications for multispecies border regimes.

• Teaching: Urban Ethnography, Environmental Justice, Climate Change Politics
• Awards: Forsythe Prize, Douglass Prize, German Studies Association Recognition

Stoetzer’s work bridges ethnography with critical analysis of racialized exclusion in asylum systems, as seen in her engagement with the film Forst examining refugee displacement in German forests. She contributes to transdisciplinary dialogues on science, technology, and migration through CASTAC and TRANSIT journal engagements.