Etienne Benson

Etienne Benson is the Director of Department II (Knowledge Systems and Collective Life) at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. His work bridges the history of science, environmental history, and science and technology studies, focusing on the political and scientific evolution of environmentalism in the U.S. and Europe since the 18th century. He holds a doctorate from MIT and has held academic roles at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania (where he continues as a visiting professor), and the Rachel Carson Center.

• Education: Ph.D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (MIT, 2008)
• Past Roles: Postdoctoral Fellow (Harvard), Research Scholar (MPIWG), Lecturer (University of Chicago, NYU-Berlin), Visiting Scholar (Rachel Carson Center)

His research examines how scientific knowledge production intersects with environmental politics, data infrastructures, and conservation practices. Current projects include analyzing the rise of quantitative landscape science and the ethical/legal frameworks of biodiversity research. He has authored two influential books on environmental technologies and histories of data collection.

Recent publications highlight the co-creation of scientific communities and data systems, from early 20th-century bird banding to modern animal movement repositories like Movebank. His work situates environmental science within broader socio-political contexts, emphasizing the role of data in shaping conservation policies and scientific identities.

The department he leads, Knowledge Systems and Collective Life, collaborates with global institutions and hosts initiatives like the International Max Planck Research School. His team explores historical epistemologies of planetary modeling and the interplay between science, law, and ethics in biodiversity conservation, using archival and digital humanities methods.