Dr. Lucas Brunet
Postdoc
Lucas Brunet investigates the production of knowledge in ecological sciences and its relationship to nature conservation policies. Lucas holds a MA in social sciences (Sciences Po Paris, 2013) and a MSc in environmental sciences (Sorbonne Université, 2013). In 2018, he received a PhD in sociology from the former French research institute on environmental studies (Irstea, now INRAE) and the Université Grenoble Alpes. His PhD, ‘The affective life of ecosystem services: Research, science communication and nature conservation’, introduces the sociology of emotions in the study of environmental and conservation sciences.
Inspired by the feminist STS scholarship, Lucas has studied how power and emotion shape the making of knowledge on ecosystem services and biodiversity offsetting. He has notably shown that the emergence of new research fields (ecosystem services research) has been governed through emotions, that various scientific disciplines have provided different resources to manage the emotions related to the ecological crisis (eco-anxiety), and that the articulation between science and policy has been facilitated but also prevented by emotions (surprise). In his work, emotions are not considered as individual psychological reactions, but as social products mediated through discourses, practices and norms, and used to govern individual and collective conducts. His research has been published in different French special issues on emotions (Tracés : Revue de Sciences Humaines, Lien Social et Politiques, Carnets de Géographes) and nature conservation (Revue d’Anthropologie des Connaissances, Environnement Urbain), as well as ininternational journals (Science and Public Policy, Land Use Policy, Ambio).
Lucas’ work has also focused on how conservation sciences are communicated affectively and how they areunderstood by various publics. In collaboration with environmental scientists, Lucas has studied how different devices (games, scenarios and maps) can be used to communicate and render conservation sciences ‘actionable’. In his first postdoc at the University of Tampere in Finland (Politics of Space and the Environment research group, 2018 – 2020), Lucas has co-developed a serious game presenting the controversies generated by biodiversity offsetting.
As part of the Evidence for Excellence project at the MCTS, Lucas develops further his research on the transformation of research fields by European research governance. Drawing on the case of the European Research Council and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, he studies the consequences of the changing conditions of research on reviewers’ working and evaluation practices. Lucas mobilises different analytical perspectives to examine how research is evaluated, such as valuation, interdisciplinary work and emotions.
For more information, please visit https://cv.archives-ouvertes.fr/lucas-brunet
- Science and Technology Studies (STS)
- Knowledge politics in environmental sciences
- Research policy
- Science communication
- Affect and emotion studies
Peer-reviewed articles
- Brunet, L. (2022). Transposing emotions to conserve nature? The positive politics of the metrics of ecosystem services. Science as Culture.
- Brunet, L. and Müller, R. (2022). Making the cut: How reviewers use evaluation devices to select applications at the European Research Council. Research Evaluation.
- Nygren, N.V., Kankainen, V., Brunet, L. (2022). Offsetting game – framing environmental issues in the design of a serious game. Simulation & Gaming, 53(6), 615-644.
- Brunet L. (2021). #Flygskam: the power of flight shame to govern climate change, Lien Social et Politiques, (86), 54-70. (in French, original title: #Flygskam : le pouvoir de la honte de prendre l’avion pour gouverner le changement climatique).
- Brunet L. (2020b). Living with ecological anxiety: emotional strategies and epistemic commitments in environmental sciences, Tracés : Revue de Sciences Humaines, (38), 103-122. (in French, original title: “Face à l’angoisse écologique. Stratégies émotionnelles et engagements épistémiques en sciences de l’environnement”)
- Brunet, L. (2020a). An uncertain soil transfer. The surprises of ecological restoration and biodiversity offsetting. Revue d’Anthropologie des Connaissances, 14(14-4). (in French, original title: “Un transfert de sol incertain. Les surprises de la restauration et de la compensation écologique”)
- Brunet, L., Arpin, I., Peltola, T. (2019). Governing research through affects: the case of ecosystem services science. Science and Public Policy, 46, 866–875.
- Brunet, L., Tuomisaari, J., Lavorel, S., Crouzat, E., Bierry, A., Peltola, T., & Arpin, I. (2018). Actionable knowledge for land use planning: Making ecosystem services operational. Land Use Policy, 72, 27-34.
- Crouzat, E., Arpin, I., Brunet, L., Colloff, M. J., Turkelboom, F., & Lavorel, S. (2018). Researchers must be aware of their roles at the interface of ecosystem services science and policy. Ambio, 47(1), 97-105.
- Brunet, L. (2017). Ecosystem services in cities, or the opportunity for a reconciliation between humans and nature. Environnement Urbain/Urban Environment, (Volume 11) (in French, original title: “Les services écosystémiques en ville, ou l’opportunité d’une réconciliation entre les humains et la nature”)
- Brunet, L. (2016). Faire l’expérience des «services écosystémiques». Émotions et transformations du rapport aux espaces naturels. Carnets de géographes, (9).
PhD thesis
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Brunet, L. (2018). The affective life of Ecosystem Services. Research, science communication and nature conservation. PhD thesis in Sociology, Université Grenoble Alpes.
Other publications
- Book review: Brunet, L. (2018). Wildlife in the Anthropocene: Conservation after Nature by Jamie Lorimer. Revue d’Anthropologie des Connaissances, 12(3), 533-538.
- Serious game: Nygren, N., Brunet, L. and Kankainen, V. (2019) Kompensaatiopeli. A game for discovering the implementation of biodiversity offsetting and its controversies. Published under the creative commons licence CC BY 4.0.
- Science popularisation article: Brunet, L. (2018). Comment les écologues sont-ils affectés par une notion scientifique ? Un compte-rendu émotionnel de la notion de services écosystémiques. R81. Regards de la société française d’écologie et d’évolution.
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Artistic exhibition booklet: Brunet, L. (2018). Our political mentalities: the arts of governing the present time. Comments on the art project by Camille Leherpeur, exposed at Angus Hugues, London, March 2018. Editions Les murmurations.
- 2020-2021: Who Is Responsible for Environment and Health? Social and Cultural Perspective on Environment, Health, and Technology.
- « Un transfert de sol incertain. Les surprises de la restauration et de la compensation écologique par l’offre ». Journée d’étude ‘Le sol, nouvelle frontière pour les savoirs et les politiques de l’environnement’, Centre Alexandre Koyré, 16-17 septembre 2019.
- « The affectivity of biodiversity markets. The case of the first French biodiversity offsetting bank ». Nordic Science and Technology Studies Conference 2019, Tampere University, Tampere, 13 – 14 Juin 2019.
- « Becoming affected to learn about nature conservation. Kompensaatiopeli, a card game on biodiversity offsetting » with Nina V. Nygren, Colloque Jeux et Enjeux, ESPE, La Canebière, Marseille, France, 13-14 mai 2019.
- « Communicating ecosystem services during affective events: the campaign of ecologists to engage a diversity of actors in nature conservation ». Conference Science & activism – The role of environmental movements in transformations to sustainability, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, 29 – 31 January, 2019.
- « An experimental operation: the making of the first French biodiversity offsetting bank », conference « naturecultures » of YHYS (The Finnish Society for Environmental Social Science), track « Biodiversity offsetting: ideologies, modalities and production of naturecultures », Rovaniemi, 22 – 23 November, 2018.
- « Ecological offsetting in France – How It (Not) Works ». Ekologinen kompensaatio (biodiversity offsetting) – Tavoitteista todeksi, Ympäristöministeriön pankkisali (Finnish ministry of environment), Helsinki, Finland, 6 November 2018.
- « The French experience of biodiversity offsetting », Kone foundation presentation of the thematic grants on « Ecological compensation in society and culture », Kemiönsaari, Finland, 21-22 September 2018.
- « The affective power of numbers: assessing and valuing Ecosystem Services in nature conservation », Institute on Critical Studies of Environmental Governance, Invited participant, Toronto University, 11 – 15 July 2018. Article in review for a special edition in the journal Science as Culture.
- « More than maps: the emotional and bio-politics of Ecosystem Services maps », conference ‘Adapting the notion of Ecosystem Services to real-world situations: potential, challenges and solutions’, 8 June 2016, Irstea Grenoble.
- « Les services écosystémiques en ville, ou l’espoir d’une réconciliation entre humains et non-humains », International conference: « Services écosystémiques : apports et pertinence dans les milieux urbains », 24-26 May 2016, UMR CITERES, Université de Tours
- « Une recherche engagée sur les services écosystémiques ? Emotions des chercheurs et point de vue réflexif ». « Posture critique : faire une recherche de l’environnement engagée », Journées des sociologues de l’Irstea, 25-26 janvier 2016, Bordeaux.
- « La communication scientifique sur les services écosystémiques motivations, modalités et effets. Une présentation initiale des questions de recherche et des méthodes », journée d’étude « Ce que la nature fait aux sciences de la communication (et vice-versa) » organisée par le CERILAC EA 4410, université Paris Diderot, en collaboration avec le LCF (EA 4549, université de La Réunion), 1er avril 2015.