Dr. Stefanie Fishel is a Senior Lecturer at the University of the Sunshine in Queensland, Australia. She was educated at the University of Victoria, British Columbia where she received her Master of Arts in International Relations and earned her PhD at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland in International Relations and Political Theory.
Her research engages with political ecology, environmental humanities, philosophy, and new materialism to theorize new forms of global environmental institutions and legal regimes that value the more-than-human, offer metaphorical approaches to understanding our wider world through other Earth beings, and translate these knowledges to policy and politics. Dr. Fishel’s book, The Microbial State: Global Thriving and the Body Politic draws on sources from continental philosophy, science and technology studies and world politics to demonstrate that the human body is not whole and separate from other bodies, but rather populated by microbes, bacteria, and viruses and exists in dense entanglement with other communities and forms of life. Her most recent articles explore the tree and forests as exemplars for rethinking global politics and argues for a viral body-politic to better secure communities in the face of ongoing pandemics. Her work with the Sydney Environment Institute focuses on creating justice and recognizing the relationship between human and more-than-human systems.
In addition to her academic roles, Stefanie serves of a local non-profit dedicated to the protection and regeneration of koala habitat and is deeply engaged in education, environmental conservation, and social justice in Queensland and beyond.
