NEWS Hanna Oosterveen is a PhD Candidate in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester. Between January and May 2025, she is a visiting researcher at the Arctic Centre at Umeå University. Using ethnographic methods, her PhD project aims to study the roles of Arctic field stations in times of rapid climate change.
Hanna Oosterveen is from Canada and is a PhD Candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester in the UK. Before beginning her PhD, she studied Human Ecology in Sweden, at Lund University. There, she had the opportunity to learn about the relationship between climate change and our political-economic systems.
When she is not working, Oosterveen can be found either at the sauna, fishing, or calling with friends and family back home in Canada.
Hanna Oosterveen, guest researcher.
Image Monica BörlinOosterveen’s PhD project is heavily influenced by her background in human ecology, but it is narrowed in on one aspect of society. She will work with scientists who study the Arctic to address the impacts of climate change.
“My doctoral research examines the evolving roles of Arctic field stations in times of rapid climate change, focusing on the Abisko Scientific Research Station in Sweden. As a hub for international scientists studying the Swedish Arctic, the station is a site where our understanding of the impacts of climate change on Arctic systems is produced. I investigate how researchers conducting field studies in Abisko come to know the place, navigate uncertainty, prioritize some questions over others, and relate to the landscape,” she explains. She continues to explain that she uses ethnographic methods, which are common within anthropology.
“Ethnographic methods are a fancy way of saying that we spend time with the people we are trying to learn about, participating in the day-to-day activities of our collaborators, and conducting interviews”.
The choice of methods is a big reason why Oosterveen is in Umeå—to be able to spend time with researchers who work in Abisko, interview them, and listen to how they conceptualise the work they do.
As I spend time with Arctic scientists, I am realizing that there are more questions to ask to get a sense of how Arctic science fits into environmental decision-making on a local and global scale
Oosterveen’s interest for the Arctic has developed during her academic career. Her master’s thesis focused on the Canadian Arctic and investigated permafrost researchers’ meanings and practices of collaboration with local communities. In her PhD, she zooms out from the permafrost research focus towards practices of researching Arctic systems, of which permafrost is a part.
“I am still interested in practices of collaboration, but as I spend time with Arctic scientists, I am realizing that there are more questions to ask to get a sense of how Arctic science fits into environmental decision-making on a local and global scale,” she says.
As a guest researcher at the Arctic Centre, Oosterveen explains that she has two main aims: conduct ethnographic fieldwork for her PhD project, and contribute to the vibrant research community at the Arctic Centre. For her fieldwork, she is gathering perspectives from researchers who work or have worked in Abisko by interviewing then, joining in on meetings, and following researchers to the field.
“Already, working at the Arctic Centre has made it possible to connect with several researchers who work in Abisko and read into the history of the research station. Our lively lunchtime conversations across disciplines have helped inform how I think about my research, which I think has made the research questions I ask more grounded,” she says.
Ultimately, Oosterveen hopes that her research can provide perspectives on how understandings of Arctic climate change are produced, the roles of the Arctic field station today, and the relationships between political decision-making and our understanding of the mechanisms of climate change.