Desirée Hetzel

Desirée Hetzel is a doctoral candidate and researcher at the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. Her work focuses on human-environment relations, climate change, and cultural ontologies in Melanesia, particularly Vanuatu. She has conducted extensive fieldwork funded by DFG, DAAD, and GCCW Promovierendenförderung.

• University: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
• Department: Cultural and Social Anthropology
• Email: desiree.hetzel@ethnologie.lmu.de

Research interests include:

• Climate change adaptation strategies in Pacific island communities
• Ontological approaches to environmental knowledge systems
• Interactions between global climate policies and local practices
• Comparative analysis of Melanesian and European environmental discourses
• Intergenerational knowledge transmission in postcolonial contexts

Her recent publications examine climate change reception processes and ethnographic pedagogical frameworks. Current research involves the EU-funded FALAH project (2020-2024) alongside Arno Pascht and Eveline Dürr.

Academic career highlights:

• Since 2016: Researcher at LMU's Cultural and Social Anthropology Department
• 2016: M.A. in Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Cologne
• 2012-2015: Graduate assistant at University of Cologne's Anthropology Department
• 2011: B.A. in Social and Cultural Anthropology/Educational Science, Heidelberg