Published: 2026-05-25

Human geographer receives Umeå municipality's scientific prize

NEWS Dorothee Bohn, postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Geography, receives the prize for her research that highlights how the development of tourism, climate change and political decisions are reshaping the relationship between society and nature in the Arctic. The prize will be awarded during the Annual Ceremony on October 17, 2026.

Text: Eva Stoianov

Dorothee BohnPostdoktor vid Institutionen för geografiEnhet: Geografi

Dorothee Bohn, a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Geography, is awarded Umeå Municipality’s Scientific Prize 2026.

Image Mattias Pettersson

Dorothee Bohn defended her doctoral thesis in Human Geography at Umeå University in April 2024 with the thesis Arctic geographies in the making, in which she analyzed the political economy and institutional governance of tourism in Arctic regions. Since her dissertation, she has been active as a postdoc at the Department of Geography with the project Understanding society–nature relationships in regional development.

Her research is clearly focused on environmental issues in northern and Arctic areas, with a particular focus on how societal processes affect natural resources, landscapes and ecological conditions. Through qualitative and theoretical in-depth analysis, she examines how climate change, tourism development and regional forms of governance reshape the relationship between society and nature.

Several of her publications deal with environmentally sensitive environments in the Arctic and subarctic regions. She analyses, for example, how the expansion of tourism affects natural environments and how notions of "untouched nature" are produced and commercialised in Arctic landscapes. In other work, she studies how public funding and multi-level governance shape development pathways in sparsely populated regions, with consequences for land use, natural resource utilisation and long-term sustainability.

A central part of her research concerns the importance of climate change for tourism and regional development, including snow- and glacier-based tourism in a warming world. Here, she contributes to the understanding of how climate-related risks and uncertainties affect local communities, planning and policy-making.

In addition to empirical studies, Dorothee Bohn contributes to theoretical development by critically examining how nature and the environment are treated in social science theory. She problematizes the use of scientifically inspired metaphors in, for example, economic geography and argues for more integrated and environmentally conscious theoretical frameworks for understanding the contemporary so-called polycrisis, where climate change is a central component.

Since her dissertation, she has received the Arctic Six Fellowship (2025–2027), been a co-applicant in international projects and established international collaborations within Critical Arctic Studies and the International Polar Tourism Network. All in all, she has quickly established herself as an independent and internationally visible researcher in environmental social science research with particular relevance to northern Sweden.

Award motivation

"Dorothee Bohn has been nominated for Umeå Municipality's scientific prize in the field of environment for her outstanding and innovative research on the relationship between society and nature in Arctic and northern regions.

Through theoretically sharp and empirically in-depth research, she analyzes how climate change, tourism development and regional governance affect natural environments, landscapes and resource use in environmentally sensitive areas. Her work sheds light on how notions of "untouched nature" are shaped and translated into economic and political processes, and what consequences this has for long-term sustainable development.

Dorothee Bohn contributes important knowledge about how environmental challenges in northern regions are linked to global transition processes. She shows how climate-related risks, changing snow and ice conditions, and increasing exploitation pressures affect both local communities and natural environments. Her research combines environmental monitoring and assessment with critical review of governance and policy, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of sustainable regional development.

Despite her short time after her dissertation, she has established a clear and internationally acclaimed research profile with strong relevance to environmental issues in northern Sweden. She is a very promising young researcher whose work contributes to strengthening Umeå University's position in environmental social science research."