my research and storytelling
My ethnographic research spans Brazilian policing and politics, environmental ethics, tourism, mountaineering culture, spirituality, and our relationship to the sea. My book Policing the Favelas in Rio de Janeiro is available for order and download here.
multidisciplinarity and collaborations
I work with different media across platforms, have extensive experience with teaching and public speaking, and have published and shared my work in top-tier scientific journals, such as American Ethnologist, Vibrant, and Focaal, in book form, through photographic exhibitions, and on social media. My projects have received funding from numerous sources, including the Norwegian Research Council, the Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association, the Meltzer Fund, and the Fritt Ord Foundation. Since 2018, I have collaborated with documentary filmmaker Siri Bråtveit on a film project that documents the journey of my doctoral research and sailing projects. Message me for teaching, sailing opportunities, public talks, collaborations, media comments, or just a chat:
ethnographic research
In my first research project, I followed police officers at the Pacifying Police Units that were established across different favela communities before the Rio Olympics. Since 2014, I have studied, photographed, and written about police-resident relations. I have been particularly interested in understanding the convergence of religious and political dynamics in the field of policing.
In 2018, I started a new research project, where I explored what the mountains mean to people who pursue lifestyles centred on outdoor sports and activities. In particular, I delved into Norwegian outdoor culture as well as the global history of mountaineering and alpinism. I did most of my research in the Arctic community of Svalbard and in the Patagonian mountain village of El Chaltén and found that the spiritual dimensions of our relationship to nature are often overlooked in environmental management and policy development.
Currently, I’m sailing across the oceans carrying out independent research and a documentary project that zooms in on spiritual and existential concerns. Letting the sea be my teacher and guide, I am approaching this project as an open-ended and public project, using different approaches to visual storytelling to share my journey, thoughts, and impressions.