Jenske Bal (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the ERC project ‘the Body Societal’ based at the Spiral Research Center at the University of Liege. She is affiliated with the University of in the Health Care and Body programma group of the University of Amsterdam Department of Anthropology, and the VetValues project.

Her research, at the crossroad between Cultural Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies (STS) exaimes how ‘native’ cattle breeds in the Netherlands are conserved in times of ecological trouble. She investiages the remaking of metabolic relations and biodiversity towards sustainable agricultural futures, and questions how ‘breed’ is enacted and made to belong. 

Research expertise

• Conservation
• biodiversity
• agriculture
• cattle
• breeding

Other links

• Profile at University of Liege
• Project Vetvalues

Research methods

• Ethnography
• Interviews
• Participant observations

Current research projects

• The Body Societal: Unfolding Genomic Infrastructure in Cattle Breeding and Selection

This project questions how bodies are transformed through values like health, environment and biodiversity that are incorporated in cattle selection and reproduction practices and techniques.