Signe Skjoldborg Brieghel

Signe Skjoldborg Brieghel is a Postdoc Tenure Track Assistant Professor at the SAXO-Institute within the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. Her research critically examines agro-industrial landscapes and green transition policies through environmental humanities, with expertise in multispecies ethnography, ethnobotany, and environmental history at the intersection of ecology, capitalism, and agrarian political economy.

Her work investigates resource optimization in protein production (whey, insects), revealing how industrial 'solutions' exacerbate environmental strain by adding production layers to strained food systems. Current projects include the interdisciplinary 'Cattle Crossroads' initiative (2021-2024) studying Danish livestock production within planetary boundaries, and historical research on nutrient pollution with agricultural historian Nina Toudal Jessen, examining how extractive agricultural logics saturate landscapes through time.

Analysis of her 2022-2025 publications shows consistent focus on sustainable agriculture transitions, historical ecology, and climate policy. Key themes include critiques of industrial farming, nitrogen pollution dynamics, rewilding initiatives, and consumption-based climate footprints—all grounded in Danish case studies yet addressing global food system challenges through ethnographic and historical methodologies.

Brieghel supervises BA/MA students and secured Independent Research Fund Denmark funding for 'Cattle Crossroads'. She actively shapes national climate discourse as a member of the Danish Climate and Transition Council (KOR) and the Centre for Sustainable Futures, contributing evidence-based recommendations for agricultural policy reform.

Her collaborative network spans the 'Cattle Crossroads' team (Hastrup, Nielsen), agricultural historians, and interdisciplinary researchers. Fieldwork engages conventional/alternative Danish dairy farms, feed consultants, and policymakers to explore sustainable transitions within finite environmental limits, emphasizing local landscape particularities over standardized industrial approaches.