Sarah Rose Bieszczad

FluidKnowledge: A Multi-Scale Ethnography of How Evaluation Shapes Ocean Science

Centre for Science and Technology Studies, Leiden University, s.r.bieszczad@cwts.leidenuniv.nl

Supervisor: Prof. Sarah de Rijcke

Background

I obtained my master’s degree in Science and Technology Studies from the University of
Vienna in 2019, building upon a background in chemistry (BSc). For my master thesis I
worked in cooperation with the EU Commission pilot project INSIGNIA, which aims to create
a novel, non-invasive sampling method for citizen scientist beekeepers in order to monitor
plant biodiversity and pesticide usage across Europe. Within the larger project, I conducted a
sociological study examining how the citizen science beekeepers constructed their roles in the
INSIGNIA project.

Summary PhD Project

As part of the larger Fluid Knowledge team, I will be looking into evaluation practices and
how they interact with knowledge production in regards to European ocean science, utilizing
a mixed-method ethnographic approach. The Fluid Knowledge project is a European
Research Council project, led by Prof. Sarah de Rijcke, which will examine the potential
epistemic consequences evaluation has on knowledge production in ocean science by both
quantitative analysis and ethnographic description of marine institutions in different national
contexts across the European Union. Find out more here:
https://www.cwts.nl/projects/current-projects/fluidknowledge