Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB)

Vani is a PhD candidate interested in thinking about the ocean beyond its imagined boundaries. Her project seeks to take a novel approach to understanding Marine Protected Areas and bounded governance regimes, using the concept of excess to follow and trace the relations that shape imaginations of, and drive approaches to, 'fortress-style' modes of conservation. In turn - by thinking excessively, it hopes to unlock other imaginaries of how MPAs might be, by taking seriously the external forces shaping them. The project is focused explicitly on the Southern Ocean and on developing and already-implemented MPAs there in the Ross and Weddell Sea. It then links outwards to the scientific spaces that shape MPA development, the policy spaces that form them, the consumption spaces that drive them while also thinking about the politics of producing fish as food.

Research projects / interests:

• Antarctic MPAs
• Oceanic Imaginaries
• Southern Ocean
• Social Dynamics
• Decoloniality and Power
• Ethnography

To get in touch: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Areas of interest:

• Polar Governance
• Humanities
• Literature
• Antarctic Treaty System
• History
• Environmental Management
• Polar Policy
• Geopolitics
• Human Geography
• Anthropology
• Cultural Studies
• Environment
• Values

 Keywords: Southern Ocean, MPA, Toothfish, Space/place, Imaginaries, Excess, Governance, Decoloniality.