Stefan Bernhardt-Radu
- History and Philosophy PhD Student, 2nd Year
His PhD analyses and questions the histories on the emergence and the development of specific methods to measure and conceptualise the changes of animal population numbers from the 1920s-1960s, Britain. Specifically, he focuses on E.B. Ford’s (1901-1988) ‘ecological genetics’, which broadly referred to methods meant to understand how variations in population numbers are related to variations in the genetic constitution of a population: how mass quantity relates to individual quality. He holds an MA from the University of Warwick in the History of Medicine. He can be contacted at prsbr@leeds.ac.uk.
Grace Exley
- PhD Student in the History of Science, 2nd Year.
Grace’s doctoral research concerns women and geology in nineteenth-century Oxford. Although histories of the geology are typically dominated by “gentlemen of science”, many of these male figures depended on the labour of wives, daughters, or sisters in their geological work – and Oxford was no exception. Grace’s project therefore aims to uncover the nature of these women’s activities and reincorporate their forgotten labour into the historical narrative around geology. She holds an MSci in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and can be contacted at prgae@leeds.ac.uk.
Josh Hillman
- PhD student in the History of Science, 3rd year
Josh’s doctoral project addresses the relationship between the mining industries and the development of the earth sciences in Britain between the late seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries. Whereas Roy Porter’s influential account of British geology argued that mining hardly stimulated geology before the nineteenth century, Josh’s focus on new sources of evidence, especially field notebooks, shows that mines were visited, and mineworkers consulted, far more frequently by the architects of the nascent earth sciences in Britain. He holds a BA in History from the University of Warwick and an MPhil in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge. He is funded by WRoCAH and is a Lisa Jardine grant recipient. He can be found at prjbh@leeds.ac.uk.
Felipe Martínez Fernández
- History and Philosophy PhD Student, 4th Year.
He is currently a Postgraduate Researcher (PGR) in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at University of Leeds. He is funded by the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development (ANID). Felipe is interested in the history of modern biomedical sciences, with particular interest in sexually transmitted diseases since 1850. His dissertation explores the cultural, scientific, and gendered notions of sexually transmitted disease using as a case study the Chilean military between 1860 to 1945, in times before massive penicillin treatment. He holds a BA in History from the Universidad Diego Portales (Santiago, Chile) and an MA in History from the Universidad de Chile (Santiago, Chile). He can be contacted at prfemf@leeds.ac.uk
Monica Stenzel
- PhD student in the History of Science, 1st year
Monica’s doctoral project is an interdisciplinary focus on the transition in textiles from the use of natural fibres, particularly wool, to petrochemical synthetics such as nylon, acrylic, and polyester. Such “easy care” textiles have led to the dominance of synthetics in our modern clothing industry (60%), which has become a major climate threat for multiple reasons, including water contamination, microfiber contamination, and millions of tonnes of non-biodegradable textile waste in landfills, often left in developing nations with limited processing resources. Additionally, this project targets the 150 tonnes of waste wool generated by sheep producers who raise animals for meat but cannot find a profitable application for their wool. As new, ecologically smart textile applications and structures can be determined, this could reform the wool and textiles market. She can be found at prms@leeds.ac.uk.
HPS Leeds 