Abbi Virens, Our people, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago, New Zealand

Postdoctoral Fellow

Tel +64 3 479 3920
Email abbi.virens@otago.ac.nz

Abbi is a social scientist, originally from Canada where she earned a BA in anthropology from Laurentian University. Her interest in natural history directed her doctoral research into an exploration of the foraging landscape within Dunedin, New Zealand. She took an interdisciplinary approach to the construction of her foraging ethnography; examining historical archives, contemporary media, government legislation and scientific reports and wove them into forager’s narratives. The genealogy which developed from this ethnography told a story of colonial dispossession whereby the settler transformation of Aotearoa resulted in an ecological and affective environment particular to the settler state. The stories of foragers in Dunedin expressed the ways in which human and non-human bodies are constrained by the affective settler environment, but also highlighted the ways in which they contested and resisted them. She has recently submitted her PhD thesis for examination.

Her research areas include science and technology studies (STS), post-humanism and post-colonialism. Her research fits best within the area of material-semiotics, which explores the dynamic capacities of non-human materials in human spaces. She takes a particularly critical approach, looking at how materials participate in complex, historical social relations such as colonization. This perspective allows for a more active interpretation of technological materials, observing how non-human enrolment contributes to the experience of our social worlds (both present and historical). Her research tends to spread into other disciplines including; political ecology, critical histories, and queer theory.

Research projects

Abbi is currently working as a research fellow within the Green Hydrogen Transitions Project (GNS). This interdisciplinary, multi-year research project aims to explore the potential for green hydrogen within the future energy culture of New Zealand. As a social scientist, Abbi is looking at the techno-social dynamics associated with green hydrogen technology. She is particularly interested in exploring how social relations could be reproduced or transformed by this emerging technology.

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Publications

Virens, A. (2023). From the mountains to the sea, Ki Uta ki Tai: Ecological enclosure, interconnection, and subjectivity in the commons. Antipode. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/anti.12931

Virens, A., & Talwar, S. (2022). Exploring expectations for green hydrogen in New Zealand using an energy cultures framework. Proceedings of the 16th Otago Energy Research Centre (OERC) Symposium: An Equitable and Low-Cost Energy Transition. (pp. 23). Retrieved from https://www.otago.ac.nz/oerc/symposia

Virens, A. E. (2022). Seeing the city for the weeds: A genealogical exploration of foraging in Dunedin, New Zealand (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/13599

Virens, A. (2022, August). Decolonising academia: Looking for the settler state in what we do. Verbal presentation at the Otago Politics Day School, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Virens, A. (2021, July). Plants out of place: How weeds belong in a foraging landscape. Verbal presentation at the Association for Women in the Sciences (AWIS) Triennial Conference: Embracing Diversity, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Legun, K., & Virens, A. (2020). Interventions offered by actor-network theory, assemblage theory, and new materialisms for environmental sociology. In K. Legun, J. C. Keller, M. Carolan & M. M. Bell (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Environmental Sociology (Vol. 2). (pp. 161-175). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108554558.011

Chapter in Book - Research

Journal - Research Article

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Virens, A. (2018). Decolonizing the sociomaterial narrative. Proceedings of the Agri-Food Research Network Conference (Agri-Food XXV): Exploring Past, Present & Future Contributions to Agri-Food Studies. Retrieved from https://afrn.co/past-conferences

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Virens, A. (2018). Urban foraging: Messy, more-than-human spaces. In M. C. Dawson, P. Vakaoti & M. Tolich (Eds.), Proceedings of the Department of Sociology, Gender and Social Work Postgraduate Symposium II. (pp. 71). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago. [Abstract]

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Virens, A. (2018). Urban foraging: The solitary commons. Proceedings of the New Zealand Geographical Society (NZGS) and the Institute of Australian Geographers (IAG) Conference. (pp. 139). Retrieved from https://nzgsconference2018.org/

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Virens, A. (2022, August). Decolonising academia: Looking for the settler state in what we do. Verbal presentation at the Otago Politics Day School, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Virens, A. (2019, December). Wasteland withstanding: How genealogy of wasteland unsettles hegemonic productivity. Verbal presentation at the Agri-Food Research Network Conference (Agri-Food XXVI): Re-Territorialisation Unleashed, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Awarded Doctoral Degree

More publications...