Mascha Gugganig

Mascha Gugganig is a social and cultural anthropologist and science and technology studies (STS) scholar at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), serving as an akademische Rätin (lecturer and researcher) at the Chair of Life Sciences in Society and the BIOTOPIA Biodiversity Museum. She is also an associate of the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.

Education:

• PhD in Cultural Anthropology, University of British Columbia (2016)
• Predoctoral Fellow, Program on Science, Technology & Society, Harvard University (2014–2015)
• Visiting Fellow, Department of Science & Technology Studies, Cornell University (2019–2020)

Research Focus: Dr. Gugganig critically examines contested agricultural technologies—including biotechnology, vertical farming, and digital tools—through the lens of sociotechnical imaginaries, public engagement, and expertise in settler-colonial contexts. Her work interrogates "smartification" processes and material-semiotic dimensions of food systems.

Publication Trends: Her scholarship demonstrates consistent interdisciplinary collaboration, employing multimodal and visual ethnographic methods to explore intersections of technology, environment, and society. Recent work emphasizes digital agriculture's material politics, security infrastructures, and participatory governance in food innovation.

Research Projects:

• "Cultivating Engagement: Citizen Participation Forum on Vertical Farming" (EIT Food, 2017–2018)
• "Innovating Food, innovating Europe?" (German Research Foundation/DFG, 2019–2023)
• "Diversity by Design: Emergent Agricultural Technologies for Small-Scale Farming" (co-led with Kelly Bronson, 2021–2022)

Affiliations: She actively contributes to the Chair of Life Sciences in Society at LMU, BIOTOPIA Biodiversity Museum, and Rachel Carson Center, integrating research, curation, and graduate teaching in environmental humanities.