Dr. Fiona Kinniburgh

Postdoctoral Researcher

Sociology of Science

Fiona Kinniburgh is a postdoctoral researcher in the Chair of Sociology of Science. Combining perspectives from political science and Science and Technology Studies, her work broadly examines the roles of science and public policies in enabling deep societal transformations towards sustainability. Research projects that she is currently involved in examine science-policy interfaces in the production and use of climate information (“Climateurope2,” a Horizon Europe-funded project) and the risks and tradeoffs involved in negative emissions (“Negative emissions and the politics of a projected future,” in cooperation with Lund University). Her PhD in political science at the TUM Department of Governance, Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy investigated multi-level governance of transitions to sustainable agri-food systems and the role of expertise in policy processes, focusing on efforts to reduce or discontinue pesticide use at the international level and in the EU. Prior to joining TUM, she worked on agricultural and biodiversity policy at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) in Paris, for which she investigated the achievements and limitations of domestic measures to sustain biological diversity in five countries to inform the preparation of the post-2020 framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Development from Columbia University (New York, USA) and her Master’s in Environmental Policy from Science Po’s Paris School of International Affairs (France).

  • Governance of transformations towards sustainability
  • Science-policy interfaces
  • National and international policymaking relating to agriculture, biodiversity, chemicals, and climate change
  • Politics of expertise
  • WiSe 2022-23, TUM Department of Science and Technology Studies: RESET Master’s Immersion Project, “Climate services: examining science-policy interfaces in the production and use of climate information”
  • WiSe 2019-2020: TUM Department of Governance: Politics and Technology Master’s, “The Ethics and Politics of Global Risks Planning for Existential Risks of Global Environmental Change