What did you study today? Three researchers responded

What progress have you made on the study today?

“Today, we discussed with the research group the details of the research situation, such as what types of feelings the discussion tasks might evoke and whether they are able to produce the desired effects,” says Tourunen. “We talked about the randomisation of the test settings and questionnaire forms. Our international cooperation partners provided new perspectives and ideas.”

Tourunen estimates that the global interest in the study of human synchrony has grown rapidly in recent years. When Tourusen’s dissertation was completed in 2017, it was reportedly the first to examine the physiological synchrony of couples in couples’ therapy.

Samuel Lindholm: Biopolitics existed before Foucault brought attention to it

The concept of biopolitics gained prominence among the public as well as scholars when French philosopher Michel Foucault began analysing it in the 1970s.

Biopolitics means control directed at people on the population level. It is power that aims at the preservation and optimisation of life.

Concrete examples of biopower include, for example, COVID-19 policy, vaccination and awareness campaigns, and maternity packages. On the other hand, it can also involve the prevention of perceived threats through measures, such as euthanasia, abortion, and sterilisation, explains senior lecturer in political science Samuel Lindholm from the University of Jyväskylä.

Lindholm explores the history, theory, and definition of biopolitics. He says that the topic is especially important today.

"We encounter biopolitics daily,” he says. 

Understanding it helps us recognise its various forms and avoid its destructive aspects. The theory offers answers to why life-sustaining biopolitics can sometimes lead to exclusion, and how we might optimise life without destroying it.”

In turn, studying the history of biopolitics helps to paint a more accurate overall picture of the turning points in Western political thought including what historical actors may have sought to achieve through their proposed political interventions.

Lindholm also aims to show that biopolitics emerged much earlier than Foucault suggested.

As early as the 16th and 17th centuries, political thought already included elements of biopolitics,” says Lindholm. 

“I’m especially interested in the writings of Martin Luther, Jean Bodin, Giovanni Botero, and Thomas Hobbes. "

What progress have you made on the study today?

"I submitted an article manuscript for review. The main idea I’m focused on is understanding why life-sustaining biopolitics can sometimes lead to death. I would argue that Foucault has already provided a useful answer to this question. He says that biopolitics is always about optimising life in principle, but that it can utilise the old right to kill as a means of alleged “optimisation”. In this case, populations deemed to be “detrimental” to the population’s general welfare are excluded from the biopolitical management of life."

On an international scale, biopolitics is an extensively studied subject, and at the University of Jyväskylä the focus on such research is strong. In addition to Lindholm, professors Mika Ojakangas and Sergei Prozorov are also investigating the topic.

Mira Kajanus: New methods make collecting biodiversity data more cost-effective

The amount of research data on the biodiversity of Finnish and European forests, including forest structure and number of species, is increasing significantly in modern times. Technological developments constantly bring new automation and artificial intelligence methods to the collection of biodiversity data.

Currently, the most important new methods are the automated identification of species from environmental DNA as well as from audio and image recordings, says postdoctoral researcher Mira Kajanus from the University of Jyväskylä.  

In her current work as an ecologist, Kajanus is studying the existing old-growth forests in Europe and predicting the location and status of potential old-growth forests in the future. The results of this research are leading to the development of models of predicting future forest biodiversity: taking into account the impacts of climate change and forest use, where could potential old-growth forests exist in the future and how diverse would they be.

In her research, Kajanus uses audio recorders, camera traps, DNA samples and statistical community modelling methods to collect and analyse data. These methods are used, for example, to monitor the diversity of fungi, birds, bats, mammals, and insects in forests. Based on the data collected, the PredCom research group at the University of Jyväskylä is developing methods to measure biodiversity and communicate the information more efficiently to different parties.

New methods improve the cost-effectiveness of biodiversity data collection,” says Kajanus. 

“The biodiversity data generated through research is extremely important, as it is needed at every level of decision-making.”

According to Kajanus, the greatest shortcomings in understanding biodiversity currently stem from the fact that information is often based on only one group of organisms. It would be important to understand how changes in habitat affect entire communities and interactions within them. Information is also often slow to transfer from the field to decision-makers: 

“Now it can take several years that the information is being processed,” she says.

Information about the biodiversity of old-growth forests is especially important.

Old-growth forests provide critical habitat for various endangered species,” says Kajanus. 

“We should ensure that that these forests are protected and exist also in the future, because they serve as key habitats for numerous endangered species.” 

What progress have you made on the study today?

“In fact, just today, I used statistical community models to predict plant species richness in Europe,” says Kajanus. “I study how species richness varies according to different environmental factors, such as soil and climate.”

As a biodiversity researcher, Kajanus is sometimes happy and sometimes disappointed because of the information or circumstances related to her research topic.

“The last time I felt joy was when I heard how popular the conservation biology course led by university lecturer Panu Halme is at the University of Jyväskylä,” she explains. “It’s great to hear that the current students are interested in the topic, as it promises good things for the future. On the other hand, I was disappointed by people’s behaviour when I visited the Natural History Museum of Helsinki. The visit opened my eyes even further to the extinction of species and the ongoing climate change, as well as its consequences.”