Dr Alice I J Beck

I am a human geographer working at the intersection of science and technology studies (STS). My research interests include: ontological epistemic politics, knowledge hierarchies, feminist theoretical approaches to health and emerging medical technologies, and research culture in environmental and interdisciplinary research settings.

I completed my PhD in geography at the University of Bristol in 2022. My doctoral thesis examined the ontological politics of the human microbiome, emphasising how knowledge hierarchies deem some forms of knowledge production more legitimate than others. The thesis also speculated on the implications of these hierarchies for our understanding of and treatment of the human body and its relationship to nonhuman microbes.

Since completing my doctorate, I have worked on multiple projects at the Cabot Institute exploring how research culture emerges and impacts research experience. In particular, my work has focused on how knowledge hierarchies impact interdisciplinary research.