Dr. Sarah Schönbauer
Sarah teaches and researches at the STS Department, TU Munich. Her research and expertise unfold in two main areas: academic knowledge cultures in transition and ecological challenges with a specific focus on water-related challenges. As part of the Bmbf-funded focus on "Plastic in the Environment", she investigated the social, political and ethical aspects of (micro)plastic in our society.
In her current postdoctoral project, for which she was funded by the Austrian Science Fund as an Erwin Schrödinger Fellow, Sarah is researching how the role of environmental scientists is changing in today’s society, with a focus on water scientists. Sarah is also interested in the larger social and political dimensions of water-related environmental changes.
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Invited Talk at University of Edinburgh, November 2025
Invited Talk at Lund University, September 2025
UPCOMING EVENTS
Dfg network Waste in Motion Workshop
September 2025
Talk at the University of Vienna
January 2025
RECENT ARTICLES
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Laser, S., Gumbert, T. and Schönbauer, S. (submitted for German Waste Studies Handbook). Von der Entsorgung zur Fürsorge – zu Care in Bewegung. Transcript.
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Schönbauer, S. and Vermeulen, N. (submitted) Between Retrospection and Anticipation: academic, environmental and political time in marine sciences.
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Schönbauer, S. (forthcoming). Scientific Activism. DGS Handbook for Science and Technology Studies.
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Schönbauer, S. (2024 forthcoming). How to Care for Marine Plastic Litter. Global TA and Care. TATuP Journal.
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Schönbauer, S. and Pöchhacker, N. (2025 forthcoming). Situating Reflexivity: Coming home to STS. In: Davies, S. et al. (eds.): Revisiting Reflexivity: Liveable Worlds in Research and Beyond. Bristol University Press.
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Schönbauer, S. (2024). Environmental Engagements: Marine Scientists Care for Environmental Changes. Minerva. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-024-09538-y.
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Schönbauer, S. (2022). Editorial on Waste. EASST Review.
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Schönbauer, S., & Müller, R. (2021). A Risky Object? How Microplastics Are Represented in the German Media. Science Communication, 43(5), 543-569.
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Schönbauer, S. (2021) A passion for science. Addressing the role of emotions in identities of life scientists. In: Kastenhofer, K./ Molyneux-Hodgson, S. (eds.): Communities and Identities in Contemporary Technosciences. Social Science Yearbook. Dordrecht: Springer.
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Müller, R., & Schönbauer, S. M. (2020). Zero Waste––Zero Justice?. Engaging Science, Technology, and Society, 6, 416-420.
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Schönbauer, S. (2020) ‘From bench to stage’ How life scientists’ leisure groups build collective self-care. Science as Culture.
UPCOMING TALKS DETAILS
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Talk at University of Edinburgh, November 2025
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Talk at Lund University: Engaged Science, September 2025
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Talk at University of Vienna, STS Department: Engaged Science, January 2025
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Talk at RMZ / Berlin: Umwelt-Engagement: Meeresforschung zwischen Wissenschaft und Aktivismus
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Talk at 4S/EASST together with Niki Vermeulen: Between retrospection and anticipation: different times and tempos in the Marine Sciences
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Dfg network meeting: Planing for Uncertain Waste Futures: Exploring Practices of Care, Control, and Disposal in ‘Hinterland’ Regions