The INDEX Environmental Humanities Fellows 2026 Announced

We are pleased to announce the Fellows of the inaugural Environmental Humanities Programme at INDEX

• Nina Direnko, researcher and educator working at the intersection of environmental humanities, political ecology, and artistic practice. Direnko’s work explores how war reshapes relationships between humans, non-human life, and territory — particularly through themes of occupation, ecological loss, protection, and extractivism.
• Iryna Zamuruieva, researcher and artist working at the intersection of environmental humanities, political ecology, and ecofeminism. Zamuruieva’s work combines archival research, ethnography, photography, and participatory practice to examine the historical and contemporary making of agro-ecological landscapes, with a regional focus on central Ukraine.

I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to reflect on and discuss the legacies of two empires within Ukrainian landscapes during the interwar period, and how they continue to shape the trajectory of the current war. INDEX’s focus on the environment is both timely and vital, and it is a great honour and responsibility to be a part of this initiative alongside a colleague from the US.
Nina Direnko — researcher and educator 

The Environmental Humanities Fellowship is an exciting chance for me to continue exploring the longue durée of toxicity within Ukraine's landscapes. I’m especially interested in thinking with others across environmental and heritage networks in Lviv and beyond, of what it means to inherit these ambivalent, at times poisonous, landscapes.
Iryna Zamuruieva — researcher and artist 

Between July and September, the Fellows will develop their projects on the landscapes of war and ecocide while participating in research activities in Lviv and across Ukraine. In August, they will participate in the Environmental Humanities Laboratory in the Carpathians together with shortlisted candidates. It will bring together participants for workshops, guided walks, writing and peer review sessions — offering a rich and supportive environment in which to develop their texts and ideas. Their resulting essays will be published in an open-access collected volume with the Academic Studies Press.

This programme was created with the support of the ERSTE Foundation.