As we welcome new people to the FEELed Lab, we want to make space for longer introductions to project team members and research affiliates joining us this year. This profile is on Julia Jung who is joining the FEELed Lab to work on deir PhD thesis linking polyamory and transdisciplinary collaborations in ocean science and marine conservation. Julia is also the new FEELed Lab administrator.
1.Can you tell us about your work/research?
My PhD project will explore if and how polyamorous thinking might help to improve inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations in ocean science and marine conservation. Like any ongoing connection we have with another human (or non-human entity), collaborations are a type of relationship. Though, usually, the feelings and emotions that might come up for us here are sidelined.
My background is in ocean science and participatory methods, but in the last few years, I have been working on a number of ArtScience projects. I loved this environment and being able to do more creative work myself, but also often found it challenging. Working with people from such different disciplinary backgrounds and perspectives requires a lot of communication and openness. As I was also learning more about polyamory during this time, I kept seeing intriguing similarities on how to engage with and think about ways of being in those contexts.
So, I think there is a lot we can learn from polyamory and the polyamorous community about how to approach collaborations. Such as clarifying our expectations and the values we approach collaborations wish, stating our needs and wishes openly and being able to sit with the hard and uncomfortable feelings if they do come up. To me, this also means focusing more on a sense of community and interdependence, thinking more deeply about how our actions might affect others and taking care of everyone involved, including ourselves.
2.Why did you want to work with the FEELed Lab?
For the last few years, I had been looking for a lab that does truly interdisciplinary and community-focused work. Having previously worked in more natural science spaces, I was excited about the FEELed Lab’s focus on emotions and narratives about the world around us from a feminist, queer, anticolonial and disability-justice perspective. I love how the FEELed Lab combines theoretical work with very practical and action-oriented activities, because that’s exactly the type of work I want to be doing as well.
I had been following Astrida’s work and the FEELed Lab for a while before coincidentally meeting Astrida at a conference and ending up talking about my project idea. For a couple of years, I had been thinking about this idea of linking polyamory and ocean science, but thought that perhaps it was a bit too out there, to be taken seriously. Astrida was so validating and encouraging and I am so excited and grateful to actually get to work on this now!
3.Why are expansive engagements with environmental issues important?
Nothing explains this better to me than adrienne maree brown, who said that “[t]here is such urgency in the multitude of crises we face, it can make it hard to remember that in fact it is urgency thinking (urgent constant unsustainable growth) that got us to this point, and that our potential success lies in doing deep, slow, intentional work” (Emergent strategy, p.114). Even though, I often feel the urgency and the pull towards quick action myself, I just think there are no shortcuts we can take.
I feel like the climate and biodiversity crises and associate social injustices are ultimately a crisis of connection, of how to be in the world with other beings in a way that works for everyone long term. So, it’s a question about our values, the way we relate to others on a fundamental level and the need for shared stories and visions about the futures we need and want to see. Engaging on this level takes time to build trust and relationships, time to talk these things out, to consider different perspectives and space for the feelings to play out.
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