I am a historian trained in modern Central and Eastern European history, yet my work reaches beyond the borders of Europe. Engaging with transnational questions of sport, technology, environment, and politics, my current book project explores the internationalization and sportification of recreational climbing in the twentieth century. Previously, I've written on nature conservation in former Yugoslavia and the Soviet search on the Abominable snowman. Generally, I have an interest in all things wild and vertical. Appreciating the climber's love for shiny equipment and the experience that nature can be very real and not only constructed, in particular when it comes down on you in the form of falling rock, I am currently exploring new avenues of material history. 

I hold an MA in East European Studies from the University of Bologna (2007) and a PhD from Harvard University (2017). From 2017 to 2020, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. In summer 2021, I was the István Deák Visiting Assistant Professor in East Central European Studies at Columbia University.