Nathalia Brichet

Nathalia Brichet serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, where she conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of anthropology, veterinary science, and environmental studies. Her work critically examines Danish livestock production systems amid green transition imperatives and Greenlandic extractive industries through material culture analysis.

Her academic foundation includes a Master in Anthropology, which informs her methodological approach to studying agricultural and veterinary practices as socio-ecological phenomena. This background enables her unique perspective on how historical husbandry practices shape contemporary farming landscapes.

Brichet's research spans Environmental Anthropology, Animal-Human Relations, and Sustainable Agriculture, with particular focus on materialities (bodies, infrastructure, technologies) structuring green transitions. She investigates how 18th-century teaching collections inform present-day livestock production while analyzing gold/ruby mining impacts in Greenland through long-term ethnographic fieldwork. Her approach combines archival analysis with contemporary field studies to reveal historical continuities in agricultural optimization.

Recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate thematic convergence around planetary boundaries and multispecies relations, with significant output in microbiome studies of historical dairy cultures, land-use efficiency metrics, and feral dynamics in cattle systems. The research portfolio shows strong transdisciplinary integration, moving fluidly between laboratory analysis, agricultural economics, and anthropological theory.

• Novo Nordisk Foundation Prize for Interdisciplinary Teaching at the University (2025)

As principal investigator for the Cattle Crossroads project, Brichet directs collaborative research involving veterinary scientists, anthropologists, and agricultural economists. Her grant portfolio includes museum partnerships with the Design Museum of Denmark and National Museum of Greenland, where she co-curates exhibitions translating academic research into public discourse through gallery installations and community engagement.

Her laboratory infrastructure includes the newly established 'Production Animals' gallery at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, functioning as both research space and public exhibition venue. This facility supports her team's work in material culture studies while facilitating knowledge exchange between academic researchers, farmers, and museum professionals.