About

I’m a PhD candidate at the University of California, Irvine’s Department of Anthropology and EcoGovLab .

My research and teaching focus on the mobilization of data across scientific fields, its role as evidence in legal contexts, and its significance as a shared reference point in social movements. I study how data practices evolve, the underlying infrastructures and ideologies that shape them, and the contextual factors shaping the analytical and political power of data.

As part of my ongoing dissertation project , I explore the impact of data and digital archives amidst the expansion of plastic and petrochemical production in the US, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Since 2020, I have been co-developing the Formosa Plastics Global Archive , a digital workspace supporting a transnational network of researchers and advocates concerned about the operations of the Formosa Plastics Group.

I studied Media, Communication, and Cultural Research in Bremen and Istanbul (BA) and Science and Technology Studies (MA) in Frankfurt. I received scholarships from the Fulbright Foundation, German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes), Social Science Research Council (SSRC), and the Environmental Data Justice Fund (Windward Foundation).

I’m an active member of the Design Group for the Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography (PECE) and serve as open data editor for the journal Engaging Science, Technology, and Society .

You can reach me at tschuetz@uci.edu .