Irene van Oorschot

Irene van Oorschot is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Science Public Issues and Imaginaries, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research explores climate adaptation practices, ecological resilience, and the interplay between legal systems and environmental management.

She investigates how communities sense and respond to climate change in everyday urban contexts, using ethnographic methods to study bodily exposures and care practices. Her work also examines the circulation of scientific concepts (e.g., resilience) in environmental policy.

Van Oorschot's publications span climate adaptation, forensic genetics, and legal sociology. Recent articles analyze sensory experiences of climate change, ethical dilemmas in facial recognition technologies, and the adoption of DNA sequencing in forensics. Her interdisciplinary approach combines STS, anthropology, and environmental humanities.

She led the research project Sensing Change, funded by Rotterdams Weerwoord, which documented how Rotterdam citizens perceive climate change.