Hi! I am Marianna Birmoser Ferreira-Aulu, project researcher and doctoral student at the University of Turku (UTU), Finland. My long-term professional goal is to contribute to society by exploring innovative pathways towards just and sustainable futures. I intend to do this by producing high-quality scientific materials, by popularizing science to catalyze positive transformations, and by engaging with the civil society to collaborate with various stakeholders. During the past five years, I have been working as project researcher in two departments in the University of Turku: the Finland Futures Research Centre, and the Centre for Collaborative Research. I have been engaged with various projects in strategic foresight, futures literacy, sustainability and climate action, renewable energy, food research, and international collaboration. In addition to desk research, I enjoy doing workshop facilitation (have experience in Finland, Peru and Colombia). I have also been quite active in public speaking, by giving talks in various seminars and conferences. I also enjoy cooperating to developing the strategy of our own organization. I have represented UTU in international cooperation initiatives through international education services. Since the beginning of 2021, I have also been pursuing my doctoral degree in Futures Studies. The working-title of my dissertation is “Building a Strategic Roadmap for Ecologically Sound and Socio-politically supported Conservation of the Brazilian Amazonia”. The research takes into consideration the local socio-political dynamics, the uniqueness of its peoples and its biodiversity. I look at the conservation of Amazonia as a wicked problem that needs diverse set of actions to attempt to solve it. This research topic is a continuation, and expansion of my Master’s Thesis, where I explored futures scenarios for the Volta Grande do Xingu, the region most affected by the construction of the Belo Monte Dam, in the East of the Brazilian Amazonia.

Projects

IMPLEMENTING CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO PARTICIPATION IN AFRICA: AN EVALUATION OF THE LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND CAMEROON

Projects

Business Models of Born Globals in a Forest-Based Bioeconomy (BIOBM)

Aside from being a PhD student, I am currently a lecturer of Dental Public Health in an academic institute in Saudi Arabia. I have an MSc in Dental Public Health and a Joint master’s in health professional Education. I serve as a reviewer for several international journals and an section Editor in Frontiers Oral Health and have publications in reputable and hi-indexed journals. I am a core team member in global initiatives that address oral and mental health.

Projects

Bioinformatics and Information Retrieval Data Structures Analysis and Design

I have been recently working on a critique of mainstream ( neoclassical and neoliberal) Economics and its relation to producing Climate Change and Ecological crises. I am a member of EXALT ( Global Extractivisms and Alternatives Initiative--- www.exalt.fi) I have been working on the conceptualisation of "global extractivism" ( see our forthcoming Special Forum on Extractivsm in the Journal of Peasant Studies). With Hamed Hosseini I have ben developing the concept of "Transversal cosmopolitanism" as a dialogic form of co-construction of knowledge for transformative praxes.

Africa and EU bonding

The early-stage doctoral researcher focused on hydrogen (and, broader, energy) regulation at the EU level

I study mitochondrial DNA maintenance (replication and repair) in mammalian cells, concentrating on the tissue-specificity of molecular mechanisms and adaptative reactions to mitogenotoxic stressors.

Anthropologist with a specialization in long-term social change in postcolonial Africa. Recent work focuses on the interaction between law and politics in state formation. Supplementary interests in epistemic decolonization, and in the legal frameworks around extractivist economies, especially in connection with indigenous communities.