Complicating matters. Killing insects for ecological (citizen) science
Thesis event information
Date and time of the thesis defence
Place of the thesis defence
IT115 (Wetteri-Hall), Linnanmaa campus
Topic of the dissertation
Complicating matters. Killing insects for ecological (citizen) science
Doctoral candidate
Master of Arts in Education Marina Pliushchik
Faculty and unit
University of Oulu Graduate School, Faculty of Education and Psychology, General Education
Subject of study
Multispecies studies
Opponent
Doctor of Philosophy Karin Ahlberg, Stockholm University
Custos
Professor Pauliina Rautio, University of Oulu
Complicating matters. Killing insects for ecological (citizen) science
This thesis is based on empirical materials gathered during Fellow Feelings, a transdisciplinary citizen science project, which involved participants in lethal insect collection. The unavoidability of killing gave rise to this thesis and the argument for expanding education's role within transdisciplinary citizen science beyond the transfer and evaluation of normalised knowledge.
Theoretically, I draw on multispecies studies, environmental humanities, and science and technology studies (STS), especially the work of Donna Haraway (2008; 2013). The concepts of making killable, staying with, and playing string figures are generative for my thinking critically about normalization of insect death in Fellow Feelings and similar projects. In combining Donna Haraway’s concept of making killable with James Serpell’s (1996) distancing devices, I propose a conceptual framework that establishes making killable as a systemic project that renders insect killing in science as “nothing to worry about”. Through analysis of research materials, I trace how distancing devices operate in Fellow Feelings, and how normalization is resisted or questioned.
Methodologically, I locate my thesis within assemblage studies in education, leaning on multispecies ethnographic research to trace the both/and nature of lethal insect collection. I define my method of collecting data as staying with. Within Fellow Feelings this unfolds practically as me being present and attentive around insects, insect bodies, and potential sites of insect killing in the project and beyond, and capturing this through reflexive ethnographic notes and photographs.
Analytically, I rely on Haraway’s string figure metaphor. I first organize the research materials into thematic clusters that follow the traditional entomological routine and then focus on what emerges in-between: moments of resistance, affective engagement, and speculative thinking that challenge the smoothness and neutrality of the scientific routine.
The findings reveal that though lethal sampling is structured to appear unproblematic, hesitations and resistances around it persist. I argue that this disrupts the normalization of killing and opens up space for profound reflection on what it means to be a scientist, a citizen, and a human in relation to other humans, animals, and the natural world.
Theoretically, I draw on multispecies studies, environmental humanities, and science and technology studies (STS), especially the work of Donna Haraway (2008; 2013). The concepts of making killable, staying with, and playing string figures are generative for my thinking critically about normalization of insect death in Fellow Feelings and similar projects. In combining Donna Haraway’s concept of making killable with James Serpell’s (1996) distancing devices, I propose a conceptual framework that establishes making killable as a systemic project that renders insect killing in science as “nothing to worry about”. Through analysis of research materials, I trace how distancing devices operate in Fellow Feelings, and how normalization is resisted or questioned.
Methodologically, I locate my thesis within assemblage studies in education, leaning on multispecies ethnographic research to trace the both/and nature of lethal insect collection. I define my method of collecting data as staying with. Within Fellow Feelings this unfolds practically as me being present and attentive around insects, insect bodies, and potential sites of insect killing in the project and beyond, and capturing this through reflexive ethnographic notes and photographs.
Analytically, I rely on Haraway’s string figure metaphor. I first organize the research materials into thematic clusters that follow the traditional entomological routine and then focus on what emerges in-between: moments of resistance, affective engagement, and speculative thinking that challenge the smoothness and neutrality of the scientific routine.
The findings reveal that though lethal sampling is structured to appear unproblematic, hesitations and resistances around it persist. I argue that this disrupts the normalization of killing and opens up space for profound reflection on what it means to be a scientist, a citizen, and a human in relation to other humans, animals, and the natural world.
Created 16.9.2026 | Updated 16.9.2026