Komi people 

I do my research together with the Komi people, one of the Finno-Ugric peoples residing in Russia. I’m a half-Komi myself, so the rationale behind the research topic choice is quite obvious.   

I wrote my Master’s thesis on the public organizations and local authorities’ response to oil spills that are happening in the Izhemsky district in the northern part of the Komi Republic, Russia. Besides that, I am interested in virtually anything related to the Komi people: from history and folk traditions to the women’s movement and contemporary artistic initiatives.   

In my PhD dissertation, I study the development of Komi urbanity in Syktyvkar, the capital city of the Komi Republic. I do it by using various qualitative and quantitative methods, such as fieldwork, interviewing, digital ethnography, archival work, and document and statistical data analysis.         

Urban anthropology and ethnography 

Cities are fascinating places for ethnographic and anthropological research. Long being considered inferior and less authentic than exotic and rural areas, with the growth of urbanization they’ve become an inherent part of research in/about/on/with human communities.   

I am interested in how cities and constantly growing urban Indigenous populations challenge conventional understandings of what Indigeneity is. Political determination, language sustainability and vitality, as well as the relationship between the city and nature are some of the things that excite me the most. 

Biocultural heritage and non-linear time  

In 2023, I became a member of an exciting group project Biocultural Heritage and Non-linear Time run by my colleagues from the Indigenous studies track at the University of Helsinki. Referring to four different geographical areas, we study the relationship between biocultural heritage and non-mainstream understanding of time possessed by Indigenous and local populations. To learn more about this project, please check our website.