My main interests are in interdisciplinary fields dealing with human-nature interaction:

• human perception of nature;
• social acceptance of environmental projects;
• human-nature relationships;
• role of narratives and language in the constitution of environmental values.

My PhD project aims to elaborate a relational theory of environmental values, by mixing empirical social science and environmental ethics. 

My completed studies have given me the necessary skills to tackle problems that cut across several disciplines, in particular environmental sciences, sociology and literature.

2024 - now: PhD Candidate in Human Geography. Project: Developing a quantitative tool to measure human-nature relations of bird-watchers. 

2023-2024: Master thesis in collaboration with WSL (Birmensdorf) in the "social science for landscape research group". Project: Reintroduction of European Bison (bison bonasus) in the Swiss Jura: social acceptance and future areas of conflict.

2022-2024: Master degree in Quantitative environmental sciences (major) and French linguistics and literature (minor).

2018 - 2022: Bachelor degree in French linguistics and literature (major) and biology (minor).

03.05.2024: Littérature et écologie: pour un dialogue au profit de l'environnement. This one-day workshop invited students to explore the theme of ecopoetics in different ways, with four guests - experts - from different disciplines. The day ended with a general discussion moderated by myself.

23.05.2025: Pluralität von Textinterpretationen.This half-day workshop aimed to test the qualitative method of textual interpretation known as “objective hermeneutics”. Young researchers and professors from interdisciplary backgrounds focused on environmental texts, and the discussion explored how different texts about birds - in terms of style, narrative structure, and content - may influence the values attributed to birds or to nature more broadly.

Zélie, S. and Hunziker, M. (2025), Social acceptance of human–wildlife coexistence: a case study about the reintroduction of the large herbivore European bison (Bison bonasus) in Switzerland. Restor Ecol e14373. https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14373

Ongoing project: Podcast recording on environmental literature and values, in partnership with the Romanisches Seminar of the University of Zurich: https://dlf.uzh.ch/sites/cultcomm/podcast-litteraire/

Autumn 2024: Member of the jury for the "Prix Goncourt de la Suisse"

Various contributions to literary debates organized by the French-speaking Zurich-based association Aux Arts Etc.

13.11.2024: "Young Landscape Research" Conference organised by the WSL - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL (Birmensdorf, ZH).

15.04.2025: Ma Thèse en 180 secondes (French-language edition in Zurich). Presentation and rhetoric competition aimed at explaining one’s doctoral research to a broad audience and to a scientific jury in three minutes. Awarded 3rd Prize by the Jury.