I am an anthropologist working at the intersections of medical and environmental anthropology, and material semiotics. As a post-doctoral researcher at the UvA my work explores practices of domestic water use and the way in which these are sought to be changed in order to limit or put a stop to water pollution.

I have extensive experience with conducting ethnographic research in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, particularly in dementia care, intensive care, and palliative care.  

As a researcher, I am invested in collaborative and inclusive methods, through which I work closely together with academic colleagues and research participants, with the aim to contribute to scientific theory and societal impact.

I enjoy teaching and learning with my students. I have taught on a wide range of modules related to medical anthropology in/of public health, sociology of health and citizenship and methodology and writing.

Media Appearances

• 2023 |  Guest on Radio Swammerdam  in an episode about everyday life with dementia.
• 2022 | Guest in the podcast series ‘Doctor Informed’, produced by BMJ and THIS Institute. Episode: ‘Reflecting on a crisis’
• 2022 | Forms of Care Podcast Series (3 episodes), with Simon Cohn and Erica Borgstrom. Produced by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• 2021 | Webinar: “Dear future self with dementia. Articulating inclusive futures through letter writing“ at the Artful dementia Research lab.  With Hannah Cowan.
• 2020 | Guest in Podcast episode: “What does it mean to care”, in the Public Anthropology Podcast Series ‘Being Human’ of the Royal Anthropological Institute.
• 2020 | Webinar: “End-of-life care in England during the Covid-19 Pandemic” in the Royal Anthropological Institute’s webinar Series “Anthropological contributions to the Covid-19 crisis”.

Research Methods

• Ethnography
• (Ethnographic) Interviews
• Focus Groups
• Collaborative Workshops
• Methdological innovation

Current Research Projects

Within the project ‘Clean as a good’, my work focuses on how households figure in the care for water quality. I take as a starting point that cleaning here often means dirtying water elsewhere. I conduct ethnographic observations and interviews in people’s homes, with a focuson the practices of everyday use and discarding of water and on interventions that seek to alter these (e.g. research or behavioural interventions). I demonstrate how attempts to act upon water pollution differently stage relations between households and other relevant actors (incl. drinking water companies, water government) and associated responsibilities, and with what consequences. My work highlights the precarity of practices that serve ecological cleanliness and the cost of the absence of support to keep them up.

My project takes place within the NWO-funded research project ‘Clean as a good’ that explores how, in living with and working on water pollution in the Netherlands, different ‘goods’ that are in tension are navigated. We conduct ethnographic research with various actors, ranging from water professionals to swimmers, ‘green doctors,’ and household cleaners in professional and everyday practices, in order to learn from those who seek to improve water quality in the Netherlands through prevention, improvement of water treatment technologies, and developing interventions to change domestic water usage. The aim is to understand the diverse goods at stake in each site, and how they are known, navigated, and coordinated in practices of living with and caring for different kinds of problems related to water quality management. Theoretically, the project contributes to valuation studies by analysing how different notions of ‘clean’ are assessed, prioritised, and, at times, neglected in practice. Practically, the aim is to open up problems to do with water pollution and related issues and improve coordination between different domains that attempt to act upon them.

Research Grants & Honours

2020-2022 Research Fellowship “Learning for improvement from experiences of Intensive Care with COVID19 through patient and family members’ narratives", funded by The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute (THIS institute), part of the University of Cambridge.
In collaboration with the University of Oxford/Health Experiences Research Group). £119,985.

July 2017 Brocher Residency (1 month for a team of four researchers). ‘The labelling of mental disease: Towards responsible labelling practices’. Co-applicants: S. Spruit; E. Van Duin & S. de Knecht

• Co-Supervisor to PhD Student Matouš Jelínek, Universiteit van Amsterdam (full-time). Working title: ‘Ethnic Boundaries of Care: German Speaking Elderly in Care Homes in the Czech Border Regions’. Funder: ERC research grant ReloCare. Primary supervisor: Dr Kristine Krause
• Co-Supervisor to PhD Student Louie Jhon Lunaria,  London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (part-time). Working title: ‘Exploring the Dynamics of Child-Family-Nurse Interactions during Extracorporeal Organ Support in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit’. Primary Supervisor: prof. C. May
• Co-Supervisor to PhD Student Els Roding, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Completed: 2/2024. Thesis title: ‘Under pressure: An ethnography of the choreography of pressure ulcer care practices in the NHS’. Funder: Wellcome Trust. Primary supervisor: prof. Simon Cohn. (Completed January 2024)