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I am a researcher in the Law Department, supervised by Prof. Megan Donaldson. My dissertation is tentatively titled Rendering the Earth: Planetary Knowledge Infrastructures and International Law. It narrates the relationship between planetary knowledge infrastructures and international law from the 1884 International Meridian Conference up to the launch of the Paris Agreement's updated 'Enhanced Transparency Framework' in 2025. Drawing on documentary analysis, participant observation, expert interviews, and archival research, the dissertation traces patterns of coloniality in the entangled histories of science, empire, and international law. My research interests include environmental law, data law, the history of science, and planetary thinking and the law. Together with Angelina Fisher, Laura Mai, Gabriele Wadlig, and Yirong Sun, I convene the ICON-S Interest Group on ‘Planetary Thinking and the Law: Earth, Space, and Place’. I am also currently a board member of the EUI Researchers' Union.

Before joining the EUI, I was a Tutor in Law at PPLE College, University of Amsterdam, where I taught undergraduate-level courses on human rights, legal theory, and political philosophy. In Amsterdam, I was also involved in various artistic projects – including at the School for New Dance Development (SNDO) – and I remain interested in further exploring interfaces between the arts, sciences, and humanities.

I obtained an LLM in Legal Research at Utrecht University, where I specialized in international law and legal theory with a thesis on the protection of foreign investments in fossil fuels (NeVER Thesis Prize 2023). Before that I obtained an LLB and BSc (Hons) in PPLE (Politics, Psychology, Law, and Economics) at the University of Amsterdam and worked as a Research Trainee at the Asser Institute, among others.

If you want to chat about shared (research) interests, or if you have any questions about navigating the application process for the PhD programme in Law at the EUI, feel free to send me an e-mail at timo.zandstra@eui.eu or timo.zandstra@proton.me.