KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Plenary speakers:

Michael Marder, the University of the Basque Country, Spain

Joela Jacobs, University of Arizona, USA

Łukasz Łuczaj, University of Rzeszów, Poland

Meet the plenary speakers of GPHN Conference 2027 Poland

Michael Marder
the University of the Basque Country

Michael Marder is IKERBASQUE Research Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of the Basque Country (EHU), Vitoria-Gasteiz. His writings span the fields of ecological theory, phenomenology, and political thought. His most recent books include The Phoenix Complex (2023), Time Is a Plant (2023), with Edward S. Casey, Plants in Place (2024), Eco-Freud (2025), Metamorphoses Reimagined (2025), with Anais Tondeur, Fiori di fuoco (2025), and Of Joints and Other Articulations (2026). More information at michaelmarder.org.

Joela Jacobs
University of Arizona

Joela Jacobs is Associate Professor of German Studies at the University of Arizona, and she has maintained the Literary and Cultural Plant Studies Network (plants.arizona.edu) since founding it ten years ago. Her research focuses on the intersection of 19th-21st century German literature with Plant and Animal Studies, Environmental Humanities, Jewish Studies as well as the Histories of Sexuality and of Science. Recent books include the monograph Animal, Vegetal, Marginal: The German Literary Grotesque from Panizza to Kafka, a co-edited volume on Plant Poetics, and a cultural studies companion to plants in German (Pflanzen: Kulturwissenschaftliches Handbuch). In Plant Studies, she works on the concept of phytopoetics, particularly in the form of vegetal eroticism and violence.

Łukasz Łuczaj
University of Rzeszów

Professor Łukasz Łuczaj is a Polish botanist, at University of Rzeszów. He is known for his work in the field of ethnobotany, particularly focusing on wild edible plants and fungi, and plants used in riutals. Łuczaj is also a YouTuber and nature conservation activist, contributing extensively to the popularization of botanical knowledge and ecological practices. He was the pioneer of wild gardens and permaculture in Poland. In 2018 he was named Ethnobotanist of the Year by the Royal Botanic Garden Kew. He authored several books, mainly on wild edible plants, but also on edible insects, natural lifestyle, and he even created a handbook of sexual practices in nature. In 2026 he was elected as the forthcoming President of the Society for Ethnobotany. He conducted ethnobiological field work in numerous countries, including Poland, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, China and Laos. He runs two permaculture gardens, one in Poland, another in Portugal.