Spotlight on a Young Researcher: Eulàlia Baulenas from Barcelona Supercomputing

Meet Eulàlia Baulenas, who works at the Earth Sciences Department of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Within the department, she works in the Knowledge Integration Team of the Earth System Services group on knowledge coproduction and information flows of actor networks. Eulàlia is a political scientist with a Ph.D. in environmental policy and science with a focus on the integration of forest and water systems in Europe. She is committed to expanding research methods to improve our understanding of complex socio-ecological systems and help combat climate change. Hear directly from her in the interview below.

How are you involved in Impetus4Change? Which work package/topic? Is it the first project you’ve worked on?  

In I4C I am involved in the tasks around knowledge networks (WP1) and the Barcelona demonstrator (WP6). These activities are very important because they represent the interlinkage of the science being advanced in I4C and the social concerns that this science can respond to. Basically, they are at the science-society interface (and ideally policy). This is not the first project I have worked on. In relation to climate science, I worked in EUCP and I am currently working within the project NextGEMS and also exploring citizen engagement initiatives connected to climate adaptation in the project AGORA.

What is the most interesting thing you learned so far working on Impetus4Change?  

That scientists’ motivation, openness, and commitment to their own and others’ ideas of what means to leave a better world behind with science is what makes the difference.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? What are you working on?  

We work on transdisciplinary approaches to science in our group, and whilst this paradigm has been advancing a lot, it is still very misunderstood. In 5 years, I hope the scientific community speaks the same language in this realm.

Who is your science idol? Someone you wish you could have a conversation with (from the past or contemporary).

In the philosophy of science, I love the work of Margaret S. Archer. In political science, Elinor Ostrom, Gary Goertz, and Charles C. Ragin. They all have changed the way science is being conducted in the social sciences and are aligned with my understanding of how best to explore the reality of complex socio-ecological systems.

Which Impetus4Change research outcome/WP/expert (other than your own) are you most excited to learn about or collaborate with?

I can’t wait for the coproduction processes being conducted in the other demonstrators and testbeds, including the services mock-ups and the co-evaluation approach of all this. Also, I will keep an eye on the development of the agent-based model planned in WP1.

If Impetus4Change held a party, which song would you request from the DJ?

We are into difficult questions I see! Let it be a metaphor for transdisciplinarity… “The Darkness That You Fear” from the Chemical Brothers.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you were growing up?

I wanted to draw manga, what can I say? In my teenage years, Al Gore’s campaign on climate change is what kickstarted it for me and I had the good luck I could pursue a career in it.

Have you read any interesting books/articles recently that contributed to your work or inspired your research? 

Yes! I would like to drive the attention to the work of Werner Krauss, on the author’s experience of working with climate scientists as an anthropologist.