Principal Investigator

Political scientist Alice Vadrot has been Professor for International Relations and Environment at the Department of Political Science since March 2025. She completed her doctorate on the World Biodiversity Council in 2013 and returned to the University of Vienna in 2017 after a two-year research stay at Cambridge University as an Erwin Schrödinger Fellow of the Austrian Research Fund (FWF). Her focus is on researching the interface between science and politics in international environmental diplomacy and developing new methodological approaches to examining the role of knowledge in international negotiations. In 2018, the political scientist received an ERC Starting Grant for her project MARIPOLDATA (2018-2024), in which she and her research group are mapping negotiations on a new agreement to protect the high seas and the development of the scientific field of marine biodiversity. As part of the EU project MARCO-BOLO (2022-2026), she is investigating the need for data in biodiversity policy and nature conservation practice. Vadrot is a member of the Young Academy of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the Mission Board of the EU Water Mission, the Management Board of the Environment and Climate Hub of the University of Vienna and the management team of the Austrian Biodiversity Council. She received the Figdor Award for Law, Social Sciences and Economics by the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Henrik-Enderlein-Prize by the Hertie School of Governance, Sciences Po and the French and German Foreign Ministries.

E-Mail: alice.vadrot@univie.ac.at

Recent publications:

Morin, Jean-Frédéric, Hollway, James, Sun, Yixian, Vadrot, Alice B.M., Allan, Jennifer, Bernauer, Thomas, Betsill, Michele M., Brandi, Clara, Fast, Cornelia, Kim, Rakhyun E., Laurens, Noémie, Lecavalier, Emma, McCracken, Melissa, Mitchell, Ronald B., Morton, Kayla, Orsini, Amandine, Papin, Marielle, Rowan, Sam & Widerberg, Oscar E. (2026). Dataset development in earth system governance: Learnings, stakes, and pathways for impact. Earth System Governance, 28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2026.100328

Lyu, Wenwen, Langlet-Uranüs, Arne & Vadrot Alice B.M. (2026). From data rationales to data infrastructure: Implications for the BBNJ clearing-house mechanism. Marine Policy, 188, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2026.107079

Langlet-Uranüs, Arne, Wurm, Felix, & Vadrot, Alice B.M. (2026). Biodiversity monitoring as data practices: Moving beyond actor-centric science-policy interfaces. Environmental Science & Policy, 177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104315

Vadrot, Alice B.M. (2025). Politique internationale de l’environnement. In Adrien Estève et al (Eds.), Dictionnaire d’écologie politique (1st ed., 413-420). Paris: Presses de Sciences Po. https://doi.org/10.3917/scpo.estev.2025.01.0413

Peters, Kimberley & Vadrot, Alice B. M. (2025). Editorial: Social science perspectives on marine biodiversity governance. Frontiers in Marine Science, 12, 1724090. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2025.1724090 

Vadrot, Alice B. M., Dunshirn, Paul, Langlet, Arne, Fellinger, Simon J., Ruiz-Rodríguez, Silvia C., & Wysocki, Ina T. (2025). Writing negotiations: Collaborative field note-taking during global environmental meetings. Qualitative Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941251341984

Silvia C. Ruiz-Rodríguez & Alice B. M. Vadrot, Negotiating marine protected areas across knowledge systems: multilateral boundary work in practice, International Affairs, Volume 101, Issue 3, May 2025, Pages 879–902, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaf004

Vadrot, Alice B.M., Langlet, Arne, Dunshirn, Paul, Fellinger,  Simon , Ruiz-Rodríguez,  Silvia, Tessnow-von Wysocki, Ina; Zooming In on Agreement-Making: Tracing the BBNJ Negotiations with the MARIPOLDATAbase. Global Environmental Politics 2024; 24 (4): 152–178, https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00767

Paul Dunshirn is a post-doctoral researcher at TwinPolitics. Paul is an interdisciplinary researcher with backgrounds in political science, anthropology, and data science. In 2025, he completed his doctoral thesis on marine genetic resources, global equity, and governance under various UN Treaties, particularly the BBNJ Agreement and the Convention of Biological Diversity.

Under TwinPolitics, Paul leads the curation of a global catalogue of ocean modelling projects and conducts mixed methods research on global data interdependencies in biodiversity monitoring.

Email: paul.dunshirn@univie.ac.at

Recent Publications:

Dunshirn, Paul, & Erik Zhivkoplias. 2024. “Conducting Marine Genetic Research for Whom? Mapping Knowledge Flows from Science to Patents.” Npj Ocean Sustainability 3 (1): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44183-024-00088-0.

Zhivkoplias, Erik, Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, Paul Dunshirn, Agnes Pranindita, & Robert Blasiak. 2024. “Growing Prominence of Deep-Sea Life in Marine Bioprospecting.” Nature Sustainability 7 (8): 1027–37. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01392-w.

Vadrot, Alice B. M., Dunshirn, Paul, Langlet, Arne, Fellinger, Simon J., Ruiz-Rodríguez, Silvia C., & Wysocki, Ina T. (2025). Writing negotiations: Collaborative field note-taking during global environmental meetings. Qualitative Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941251341984

Vadrot, Alice B.M., Langlet, Arne, Dunshirn, Paul, Fellinger,  Simon , Ruiz-Rodríguez,  Silvia, & Tessnow-von Wysocki, Ina; Zooming In on Agreement-Making: Tracing the BBNJ Negotiations with the MARIPOLDATAbase. Global Environmental Politics 2024; 24 (4): 152–178. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00767

Blasiak, Robert, Jean-Baptiste Jouffray, Diva J. Amon, Joachim Claudet, Paul Dunshirn, Peter Søgaard Jørgensen, Agnes Pranindita, Colette C. C. Wabnitz, Erik Zhivkoplias, & Henrik Österblom. (2023). Making Marine Biotechnology Work for People and Nature. Nature Ecology & Evolution, January, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01976-9.

Langlet, Arne, & Paul Dunshirn. (2023). Traceability Options for Marine Genetic Resource from Areas beyond National Jurisdiction.

Vadrot, Alice B. M., Silvia C. Ruiz Rodríguez, Emmanuelle Brogat, Paul Dunshirn, Arne Langlet, Ina Tessnow-von Wysocki, & Krystel Wanneau. (2022). Towards a Reflexive, Policy-Relevant and Engaged Ocean Science for the UN Decade: A Social Science Research Agenda. Earth System Governance 14 (December):100150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2022.100150.

Silvia Ruiz-Rodríguez is a PhD student at the Department of Political Science of the University of Vienna. She has been awared a Sowi:Docs Fellowship by the Vienna Doctoral School of Social Sciences and is associated to the European Research Council Project MARIPOLDATA. Her PhD project focuses on in-person and digital multilateral diplomacy at marine biodiversity negotiations.

Silvia has a master’s in political science form the University of Vienna and a bachelor’s degree in law from the Metropolitan University in Caracas, Venezuela, where she graduated with honors. She received a double master’s degree in Piano Performance and Piano Pedagogy from Baylor University, Texas and a postgraduate diploma on Piano, Lied and chamber music repertoire from the University for Music and Performing Arts of Vienna”

Email: silvia.ruiz@univie.ac.at

Recent Publications

Vadrot, Alice B. M., Dunshirn, Paul, Langlet, Arne, Fellinger, Simon J., Ruiz-Rodríguez, Silvia C., & Tessnow-von Wysocki, Ina (2025). Writing negotiations: Collaborative field note-taking during global environmental meetings. Qualitative Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941251341984

Silvia C. Ruiz-Rodríguez, Alice B. M. Vadrot, Negotiating marine protected areas across knowledge systems: multilateral boundary work in practice, International Affairs, Volume 101, Issue 3, May 2025, Pages 879–902, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaf004

Vadrot, Alice B.M., Langlet, Arne, Dunshirn, Paul, Fellinger,  Simon , Ruiz-Rodríguez,  Silvia, Tessnow-von Wysocki, Ina; Zooming In on Agreement-Making: Tracing the BBNJ Negotiations with the MARIPOLDATAbase. Global Environmental Politics 2024; 24 (4): 152–178. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00767

Vadrot, Alice B.M. Ruiz-Rodríguez, Silvia C. Brogat, Emmanuelle Dunshirn, Paul Langlet, Arne Tessnow-von Wysocki, Ina & Wanneau, Krystel. (2022). Towards a reflexive, policy-relevant and engaged ocean science for the UN decade: A social science research agenda. Earth System Governance 14, Article 100150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esg.2022.100150

Vadrot, Alice B.M., & Ruiz-Rodríguez, Silvia C. (2022). Digital Multilateralism in Practice: Extending Critical Policy Ethnography to Digital Negotiation Sites. International Studies Quarterly 66(3), Article sqac051. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqac051

Doctoral Researcher

Emil Wieringa Hildebrand is a doctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science of the University of Vienna. His research is focused on the role of emerging technologies in international negotiations on deep sea mining and marine environmental policies. He works predominantly with quantitative methods. Emil has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Vienna, a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and has done a year of international communication studies at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. 

E-mail: emil.wieringa.hildebrand@univie.ac.at

Recent publications: 

Hildebrand, E. W., & Hjermitslev, I. B. (2025). How issue ownership impacts responsibility attribution in countries with minority governments. Party Politics, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688251408628

Doctoral Researcher

Carolin Hirt is a doctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna. Her doctoral research focuses on critically examining and modeling the development of the EU Digital Twin of the Ocean (DTO) exploring how, why, and by whom the EU DTO is developed. Her academic interests lie at the intersection of science and politics, with previous work addressing ocean circulation, climate policy, and carbon dioxide removal technologies in the EU. 

Carolin holds a master’s degree in political science and a bachelor’s degree in meteorology, both from the University of Vienna, as well as a bachelor’s degree in marketing communication from the SRH Berlin School of Design and Communication. 

E-mail: carolin.hirt@univie.ac.at

Doctoral Researcher

Wenwen Lyu is a doctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science of the University of Vienna. Her doctoral research examines issues of justice and equity in international negotiations on marine biodiversity, with a particular focus on the power imbalance at global, national and local level, as well as the role of innovative technologies in promoting environmental justice. 

Before joining the University of Vienna, she has received a dual master degree in International Relations from Renmin University of China and in European Integration from Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She received her dual bachelor degree in German Studies and Journalism from the Communication University of China. During her studies, she interned and worked with international organizations, including UNFCCC, UNIDO, and FAO, engaging in development project management. Her work spanned various topics, including global climate adaptation efforts, the sustainable development of the textile industry in West Africa, sustainable land management and food system transformation in Tanzania. 

E-mail: wenwen.lyu@univie.ac.at

Recent publications:

Lyu, Wenwen, Langlet-Uranüs, Arne & Vadrot Alice B.M. (2026). From data rationales to data infrastructure: Implications for the BBNJ clearing-house mechanism. Marine Policy, 188, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2026.107079

Doctoral researcher

Felix Nütz is a doctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science of the University of Vienna.  His research is focused on the role of data and emerging technologies in plastics governance, especially in the context of the ongoing international negotiations for a global plastics treaty. He has previous experience working in environmental policy on topics of plastics governance, citizen science and local climate policies, amongst others. Felix holds a master’s degree in political science from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, where he already completed his bachelor’s in the same field.  

E-mail: felix.nuetz@univie.ac.at

Recent publications:

Nütz, Felix, & Elizaveta Kapinos. “Interview with Manuel Fischer and Paúl Cisneros: A Conflict of Priorities, Not of Knowledge.” The Environment in Global Sustainability Governance. Bristol University Press, 2023. 122-124. https://doi.org10.56687/9781529228021-012

Research Assistant

Hristina Talkova is a Master student of Political Science at the University of Vienna with an earlier background of public international law and European law.  Prior to joining TwinPolitics, Hristina specialised in space law during her studies and worked for three years in the Public International Law Division at the Legal Services Department of the European Space Agency in Paris, France. She has also worked at the Department of European, International and Comparative Law at the University of Vienna as a student and research assistant, as well as student administrative coordinator for an educational non-profit organisation set up by the Ministry of Education and Science (MON) of the Republic of Bulgaria. Hristina additionally completed a bachelor’s degree in Political Science at the University of Vienna, with a bachelor thesis on space resource exploitation and the common heritage of humankind principle.

E-mail: hristina.talkova@univie.ac.at

Research Assistant

Felix Wurm is a Bachelor student of political science at the University of Vienna, with an earlier background in financial law and joined the team in March 2023 as a student assistant within the Europe Horizon MARCO-BOLO project. Being part of the TwinPolitics project since July 2024, he will support the project’s start-up phase. Currently his focus lies on European environmental policy and biodiversity data use, primarily working with quantitative methods to conduct his research.

E-mail: felix.wurm@univie.ac.at

Recent publications: 

Langlet-Uranüs, Arne, Wurm, Felix, & Vadrot, Alice B.M. (2026). Biodiversity monitoring as data practices: Moving beyond actor-centric science-policy interfaces. Environmental Science & Policy, 177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104315

Affiliated Researcher

Arne Langlet-Uranüs, holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Vienna, specializing in the marine biodiversity regime complex and the study of international negotiations and organizations. His academic background includes a Master’s in International Relations from Berlin, focusing on environmental policy and quantitative analysis, and a Bachelor’s in European Studies from Maastricht University. From 2019 to 2023 he was a PhD student in the ERC research project MARIPOLDATA. He currently works as a research associate (post-doc) at the Horizon Europe project MARCO-BOLO (MARine COastal BiOdiversity Long-term Observations) researching the use of marine biodiversity data among stakeholders to align product development with needs of policy-making and as a Fisheries Consultant for the FAO, focusing on ecosystem restoration. Additionally, he offers his expertise to the IUCN as a member of the High Seas Specialist Group. He is also a data scientist, volunteering with CorrelAid to consult for social organizations and develop workshops on data visualization. His work is reflected in multiple publications focusing on marine biodiversity, policy-making and the study of international negotiations.

Email: arne.langlet@univie.ac.at

Recent Publications:

Lyu, Wenwen, Langlet-Uranüs, Arne & Vadrot Alice B.M. (2026). From data rationales to data infrastructure: Implications for the BBNJ clearing-house mechanism. Marine Policy, 188, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2026.107079

Langlet-Uranüs, Arne, Wurm, Felix, & Vadrot, Alice B.M. (2026). Biodiversity monitoring as data practices: Moving beyond actor-centric science-policy interfaces. Environmental Science & Policy, 177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104315

Vadrot, Alice B.M., Langlet, Arne, Dunshirn, Paul, Fellinger,  Simon , Ruiz-Rodríguez,  Silvia, Tessnow-von Wysocki, Ina; Zooming In on Agreement-Making: Tracing the BBNJ Negotiations with the MARIPOLDATAbase. Global Environmental Politics 2024; 24 (4): 152–178. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00767

Langlet, Arne and Vadrot, Alice B.M. (2024). Expert Authority Politics in the Marine Biodiversity Complex. Global Environmental Politics, 24 (2): 98–121. https://doi.org/10.1162/glep_a_00744

Langlet, Arne and Vadrot, Alice B.M. (2024). Negotiating regime complexity: Following a regime complex in the making. Review of International Studies, 50(2): 231-251. doi:10.1017/S0260210523000402

Research Administrator

Julia Chapotot–Necker joined the Team in July 2024 as a research coordinator and is responsible for the daily operational, administrative and financial operations as well as for the internal and external communication activities of the project.

She holds a Bachelor degree in European Studies from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and a Master degree in Political Sciences from the University of Vienna. Before joining MARIPOLDATA, she has worked in the non-profit sector for organisations such as Amnesty International and Ehe Ohne Grenzen as a coordinator.

E-mail: julia.chapotot-necker@univie.ac.at