About

Hello, I am Dr. Katherine Sammler. I am trained as a human and political geographer, but also with a background in atmospheric sciences and physics. I conduct research about science and politics in the realm of oceans, atmospheres, and outer space. In all areas, this work considers the role of knowledge, law, and power in defining global commons, access, and environmental justice. Most recently, I worked as an assistant professor of Environmental Knowledge, Technology, and Sustainability Studies at University of Twente in Netherlands (2023-2025). I am affiliated with the Helmholtz-Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB) at the University of Oldenburg in Germany, where I previously was lead of the Marine Political Ecology research group (2020-2023). Check out some recent publications:

“Our fish are not your marine biodiversity”: Tensions in integrating fisheries into the BBNJ agreement (Sebuliba, Elma & Sammler 2025);

Bordering marine belonging: The meanings, mobilities and materialities of bioinvasion (Savitzky, Peters & Sammler 2025);

Intimate Outer Space: Towards a Politics of Gravity, Waste, and the Spatial Orientation of Bodies (Sammler 2024);

Volumetric, embodied, and granular geopolitics of the seabed: offshore tin mining in Indonesia (Saputra & Sammler 2024).