Assistant Professor
100
Hauptgebäude, Albertus-Magnus Platz 1,
Room 6.103; Department of Social and Cultural AnthropologyPhone +49 221 470 2904
E-mail hvehrs@uni-koeln.deWebsite TANDEM Projekt "Mtu ni watu"
Office Hours
Monday 3-5 pm
Website DGSKA AG/AK/RG Koordination
Website GSSC
Assistant professor and study coordinator for the study program "Culture and Environment in Africa" (CEA) at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne
Post-Doctoral Research in the DFG-funded Collaborative Research Centre 228: Future Rural Africa: Future-making and social-ecological transformation.
Sub-project A04: Future Conservation: Towards an African Eden? Shifting bio-cultural frontiers and the (re)coupling of social-ecological relations in the conservation areas.
PhD, Anthropology, University of Cologne
Topic: Perceptions and cultural appropriations of landscape-level (biological) invasions. Environmental change and social transformation in East Pokot, Kenya.
Member of research staff at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne.
FOR 1501 – Resilience, collapse and reorganisation in social
ecological systems of East and South African Savannas.
Sub-project C3: In search of order: institutional change, violent regulation and environmental knowledge under conditions of rapid social ecological change.
PhD, Anthropology, University of Bayreuth (cancelled due to violent conflicts in the study area)
MA, Human and Social Ecology, IFF Vienna
BA, Culture and Society of Africa, University of Bayreuth
Human and environment relations, conservation, pastoralism, environmental (in)justice, decolonial critique and its implementation in anthropology, multispecies ethnography, cognitive methods, cultural mapping
The Zambezi Region in Namibia is part of the larger Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) and comprises three national parks, a forest reserve and several community-based conservancies. In 2018 I started my work in this conservation area, mainly in a Hambukushu village near the Kwando River. I am particularly interested in the historical and future-oriented design of this landscape (1), how small farmers perceive their future in the region with and without nature conservation (2), and how human-animal relationships have changed over time.
East Pokot is located in north-west Kenya and has undergone major socio-ecological transformations over the last two centuries. On the one hand, the former vegetation – a grass dominated savannah – has changed dramatically. The grass vegetation, which is essential for pastoral livelihoods and the successful rearing of cattle, has strongly declined over a long period of time and acacia bushes have encroached large areas. The previously specialised pastoralists have diversified their livelihood systems over time, turning towards browsing species (especially goat and camel), supplementary to cattle husbandry. Furthermore, some pastoralists have started to cultivate maize and rely less on livestock husbandry than before.The social transformations and changes in the environment go hand in hand and intensify against the background of current developments.
Gum arabic is a tree resin extracted from several species of acacia endemic to the Sahel region of Africa. In recent years, gum arabic production has changed from a smallholder to a more intensive, "modern" production system in which trees are cultivated and used to produce resins. In general, gum arabic is collected from several species of acacia and has several uses, either demanded at an international level, e.g. as an emulsifier or coating for a variety of products, or at the local level, e.g. for medical treatment or the production of ink (for writing).
In my work I focus mainly on the extent to which the commercialization of gum arabic and the perceived modernization of production practices in northeastern Nigeria has been successful in the past years and on the perspectives and challenges of modernization strategies in gum arabic production.
Anthropology History Lab. MA seminar at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Summer term 2024.
Basic Concepts of Research in Hazard, Vulnerability, and Risk Management. A seminar at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Summer term 2024.
Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches in Social Anthropology. MA seminar at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Winter term 2023/24.
Berufspraktikum - Vor-und Nachbearbeitung. BA and MA seminar at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Winter term 2023/24.
Ethics in Anthropological Research. MA seminar at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne. Summer term 2023.
Ethical considerations in (anthropological) fieldwork. Workshop held at the CRC228 Summer School in Naivasha, Kenya. In collaboration with Richard Kiaka, Peter Wangai and Clemens Greiner. November 2022.
Participatory Methods: Cultural Mapping. Workshop at the African Climate and Environment Center - Future African Savannas (AFAS) Studenten Symposium. August 2022.
Anthropological methods - an introduction.
BA seminar at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne. Summer term 2022.
Conservation in the Anthropocene.
MA seminar organised together with Léa Lacan at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne. Summer term 2022.
Animal-Human Relations.
MA Seminar at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne. Winter term 2021/22.
Co-Teaching at the University of Namibia in the seminar "Rural Sociology" by Romie Ngitevelekwa.
Topic: Africa as the conservation continent in the 21st Century? Experiences from Namibia and Future Orientations. Summer term 2021.
Interdisciplinary Forum: Peace and Sustainability Studies.
Lecture series in Cooperation with Volker Ossenkopf-Okada vom I. Physical Institute of the University of Cologne. Summer term 2021.
Reflection of ethics in fieldwork.
Workshop held at the CRC 228 Summer School "African Rural Futures: Theories, Debates and Challenges" October 2020.
Anthropology, fiction and literature.
BA and MA seminar. Universität of Cologne. Winter term 2019/20.
A practical guide to fieldwork.
Seminar given at the University of Namibia (UNAM) in collaboration with the Department of Sociology. Windhoek: Sommersemester 2019
Social and Ethical Responsibility of Scientists: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.
BA and MA seminar. University of Cologne. Winter term 2017/18. In collaboration with the Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology.
Introduction to human-environment relations.
MA seminar. University of Cologne. Winter term 2016/17.
New Approaches to Human-Environment Relations in Anthropology: Philippe Descola and Tim Ingold.
BA and MA seminar. University of Cologne. Summer term 2017.
Social and Ethical Responsibility of Scientists.
BA and MA seminar. University of Cologne. Summer term 2017. In collaboration with the Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology.
Introduction to human-environment relations.
MA seminar. University of Cologne. Winter term 2016/17.
Introduction to human-environment relations in Africa.
MA seminar. University of Cologne. Winter term 2013/14.
Tim Ingold and Philippe Descola: New Approaches to Human-Environment Relations in Anthropology.
BA seminar in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Georg Klute. University of Bayreuth. Summer term 2013
Doumbia, L., Sowa, K. Vehrs, H.-P. & Q. Vo, 2023: Content Warning? Kritische und sensible Wissensvermittlung in der ethnologischen Lehre. Boasblog. Online available: https://boasblogs.org/contestedknowledge/content-warning/
Vehrs, H.-P. and I.M. Waziri, 2023: The Gum Arabic Business: Modernisation of Production in North-Eastern Nigeria. In: Bollig, Lendelvo, Mosimane, & Nghitevelekwa (Hg.): Conservation, Markets, and the Environment in Southern and Eastern Africa: Commodifying the Wild. Rochester, NY: James Currey. P. 249-273.
Vehrs, H.-P. und M. Zickel, 2023: Can Environmental Injustices be Addressed in Conservation? Settlement History and Conservation‑Induced Displacement in the Case of Lyanshulu in the Zambezi Region, Namibia. In: Human Ecology, 51,1.
Vehrs, H.-P. 2022: Pokot Pastoralism: Environmental Change and Socio-Economic Transformation in North-West Kenya. James Currey. (https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781847012968/pokot-pastoralism/)
Vehrs, H.-P., Kalvelage, L. and R. Nghitevelekwa. 2022: The Power of Dissonance: Inconsistent Relations Between Travelling Ideas and Local Realities in Community Conservation in Namibia’s Zambezi Region. In: Conservaton and Society 20(1): 36-46.
Greiner, C., Vehrs, H.-P. and M. Bollig, 2021: Land-use and Land-cover Changes in Pastoral Drylands: Long-term Dynamics, Economic Change, and Shifting Socioecological Frontiers in Baringo, Kenya. In: Human Ecology.
Bollig, M. and H.-P. Vehrs, 2021: The making of a conservation landscape: the emergence of a conservationist environmental infrastructure along the Kwando River in Namibia's Zambezi region. In: Africa. Vol. 2. No. 2. Pp. 1-26.
Bollig, M. and H.-P. Vehrs, 2020: Abundant herds: accumulation, herd management and land-use patterns in a conservation area. In: Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice. Vol. 10.
Basukala, A.K., Vehrs, H.-P., Bollig, M., Greiner, C., Thonfeld, F., 2019: Spatial-temporal analysis of land-use and land-cover change in East Pokot, Kenya. CRC/TRR228 Database (TRR228DB). DOI: 10.5880/TRR228DB.2
Basukala, A. K., Vehrs, H., Bollig, M., Greiner, C., Thonfeld, F., 2019: Dataset: Spatial-temporal analysis of land-use and land-cover change in East Pokot, Kenya. CRC/TRR228 Database (TRR228DB). DOI: 10.5880/TRR228DB.1
Casimir, M. and H.-P. Vehrs, 2019: Commenting on the article: Comparative Study of Pastoral Property Regimes in Africa Offers No Support for Economic Defensibility Model, edited by Moritz, M., Gardiner, E., Hubbe, M. und A. Johnson. In: Current Anthropology. Vol 60. No 5. 609-36.
Vehrs, H.-P. and N. Küchler, 2019: Lehren im interdisziplinären Team - Das Team als Lerngegenstand. In: Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre 89. DUZ Medienhaus: pp. 65-80.
Basukala, A.K., Bollig, M., Greiner, C., Vehrs, H.-P., and F. Thonfeld, 2018: Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Land Use Land Cover Change in East Pokot, Kenya. Poster presented at the Tropentag 2018: Global food security and food safety: The role of universities.
Vehrs, H.-P. and G.R. Heller. 2017: Fauna, Fire, and Farming: Landscape Formation over the Past 200 years in Pastoral East Pokot, Kenya. In: Human Ecology 45: pp. 613-625.
Vehrs, H.-P. 2017: Walking with pastoralists. Retrospective reflections on the everyday and exceptional challenges of the field. In: Storer, L. and A. Shoemaker (eds.): The challenges undisclosed. Reflections on invisible experiences of doctoral fieldwork. Field Diary 2: pp. 6-15.
Vehrs, H.-P. 2016. "Changes in landscape vegetation, forage plant composition and herding structure in the pastoralist livelihoods of East Pokot, Kenya." Journal of Eastern African Studies 10 (1): pp. 88–110.
Becker, M., Alvarez, M., Heller, G., Leparmarai, P., Maina, D., Malombe, I., Bollig, M. and H. Vehrs. 2016. "Land-use changes and the invasion dynamics of shrubs in Baringo." Journal of Eastern African Studies 10 (1): pp. 111–29.
Vehrs, H.-P. 2014: “Vorwort. Eine Anthropologie der Sinne oder eine sinnliche Anthropologie?” Cargo. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 33: pp. 1-3.
Vehrs, H.-P. 2013: Gum arabic as an enterprise. Socio-ecological analysis of gum arabic production in Yobe State, Nigeria. Social Science Series. Akademikerverlag: Saarbrücken.
Anthropology is Teamwork: Reflections about Fieldwork, Assistance and Partnership in a Collaborative Research Setting. Held at the Worshop 'Inclusion and Symmetrical Participation in Knowledge Production' at the Global South Studies Center (GSSC) in Cologne, April 2024
Pastoral Landscapes under Construction Historical Implications of Wildlife Extinction and Future Visions of Pastoralism among Pokot in Northern Baringo County, Kenya. Presentation held at the panel 'Pastoralists for Future' organised by Echi Gabbert and Jed Stevenson at the European Conference on African Studies in Cologne, June 2023
Conservation: A Viable Transformative Vision for Eastern Africa? Panel organised in collaboration with Peter Wangai at the European Conference on African Studies in Cologne.
Disentangling the Spectacle : Hippo Hunting and Conservation in Namibia’s Zambezi Region. At the workshop on 'Multispecies Encounters in Conservation Landscapes in Southern Africa', held in Windhoek, 27 & 28 February 2023.
Restoring an unwanted past: Wildlife Extinction and Future Conservation in (Northern) Baringo County, Kenya. GSSC Lecture. Köln: Januar 2023.
Climate activism as a global paradigm: the participatory challenge of a vanguard movement. Panel organised with Lamine Doumbia and Katrin Sowa at the VAD Conference. Freiburg: Juni 2022.
Conservation Planning and Social Repercussions: The Conservation-Induced Displacement of Lyanshulu People in Namibia’s Zambezi Region. Workshop on the Environmental History of the Kavango-Zambezi Transboundary Conservation Area. Katima Mulilo: March 2022.
The Emergence of a Conservation Landscape: The Case Study of the Kwandu River Valley. Kick-off workshop of the ERC project: Rewilding the Anthropocene. Köln: February 2022.
Conservation of what and environmental justice for whom? Multispecies relations in conservation landscapes of the 21st century. Panel organised with Léa Lacan at the Anthropology and Conservation Virtual Conference of the Royal Anthropological Institute. October 2021.
The discontinuation of multispecies entanglements: conservation, displacement and environmental justice in north-eastern Namibia. Royal Anthropological Institute: Anthropology and Conservation Virtual Conference. October 2021.
‘Stop Calling It a Park, Because It’s Our Home’: Seeking justice after conservation-induced displacement in the case of Lyanshulu, north-eastern Namibia.1st African Environmental Law Conference organized at the Environmental Law Center of the University of Cologne, May 2021.
Conservation for Africa in the 21st Century: Future Orientations, Narratives and Perspectives for further Research. Held together with Michael Bollig at the workshp "Conservation in Africa", a virtual workshop at the university of Cologne,19-21 April 2021.
Abundant herds: accumulation, herd management and land-use patterns in a conservation area. 7th Namibia Research Day, Basel, 2020.
The making and remaking of future visions in the Zambezi Region, Namibia. European Conference on African Studies (ECAS). Edinburgh, 2019.
Lehre mal praktisch: Interdisziplinäres Team Teaching. Gemeinschaftlich Lehren und Lernen. Lecture Series “Lehre mal praktisch” at the Center for University Didactics. Cologne, 2018. Online verfügbar: https://youtu.be/R-HgPhUTeGI
CO2-arme Wissenschaft - sind Klimawissenschaftler*innen Klimasünder*innen? Studentische Meteorologie Tagung (STUMETA). Bonn, 2018.
Translocality Reversed. The Creation of “Remoteness” in Pastoral
East Pokot, Kenya. European Conference on African Studies (ECAS). Basel, 2017.
An Environmental History of East Pokot Land-Use and Land-Cover Transformations over the Past 200 Years. Symposium at the Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology. Cologne, 2017.
Pokots' 'resistance to change' after Merkutwo circumcision (2016): Imagining future pastoral livelihoods. Conference of the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom (ASAUK), Cambridge, 2016.
In search of order: Institutional change, violent regulation and environmental knowledge under conditions of rapid social ecological change. FOR 1501 Stakeholder Workshop, Naivasha, 2015.
The expansion of Dodonea viscosa and its implications for socio-ecological change in Baringo County, Kenya. Baringo Workshop, University of Cologne, 2014.
The Enterprise of Gum Arabic. Reflections on the application of anthropological methods in the interdisciplinary field of human-environmental relations. German Anthropological Association (GAA), Mainz, 2013.