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Jackie Ashkin

I am investigating how we gather knowledge about the sea, the coast and the changing climate. How do we measure and predict what is happening? Which knowledge do we take seriously? And how does that determine which solutions and which future we consider possible?
In doing so, I look not only at figures and models, but also at the way in which that knowledge is generated. Seawater plays a special role in this. The sea cannot simply be measured, predicted or controlled. It is precisely for this reason that it reveals where our scientific and technological approaches work and where they do not. I investigate what this means for the choices we make in an era of climate change.

As well as being a scientist, I am a performance and spoken-word artist. Through language and performance, I explore social issues in a different way and create space for what cannot always be captured in figures or models.
I work at University College Roosevelt and the Delta Climate Centre. From there, I contribute to the ‘Art | Culture | Transition’ research group, where I bring together scientific and artistic research.