Schunko, Christoph

Research interest

My research focuses on local knowledge about wild plant gathering in organic farming and beyond. This includes research about the

1. dynamics of local knowledge of gatherers about wild plant species and the ecosystems they are growing in;
2. value chains of (organic) wild plant products;
3. ecological and socio-political sustainability of (organic) wild plant gathering;
4. cultivation and domestication of wild plants in organic farming.

I am thereby interested in European and non-European territories, rural, suburban and urban regions and commercial and non-commercial wild plant gathering. In addition, I work on the advancement of research designs and methods including participatory research and Citizen Science.

Short Curriculum Vitae

• 2017-ongoing Tenure track position at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2014-2017 University assistant at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2012-2016 Dissertation at BOKU
• 2012-2015 Synthesis officer and project manager in EU FP7 funded COMBIOSERVE project at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2009-2011 Project assistant at IFÖL / BOKU
• 2006-2009 Master Studies in Organic Agriculture at BOKU and Iowa State University (ISU), USA
• 2003-2006 Bachelor studies in Agricultural Sciences at BOKU and Ecole d’Ingénieurs de Purpan (EIP), France

Research Projects

Ongoing

• Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts: The Contribution of Local Knowledge to Climate Change Research – LICCI
• Gathering wild foods in urban areas – mixed-methods study on ecological and socio-political sustainability of gathering in Vienna – UrbanWildFoods
• Gathering of wild plant species in organic farming – OrganicWildGathering

Completed

• Assessing the effectiveness of community-based management strategies for biocultural diversity conservation – COMBIOSERVE
• Monitoring of Biocultural Diversity im Biospärenpark Großes Walsertal – BioCultural Diversity Monitoring
• Dynamics of Local Knowledge – Tyrol