The science of island biogeography is currently undergoing a huge resurgence of interest, due mainly to the advent of novel sources of data, most notably on geological dynamics, climate-driven sea-level changes, remotely sensed climate, vegetation structure and topography, and, centrally, the phylogenetic relationships among species. This has paved the way for an understanding of how island geographical dynamics shape dynamics of species diversity and the evolution of clades, but has also opened up a whole range of unanswered questions: How has the emergence of islands affected evolution in clades? How does vegetation structure and topographic complexity shape patterns of diversity? What are the roles of cross-taxon interactions in governing these processes? And how do these patterns scale from the island to the community level? In this proposal, I aim to address these unanswered questions by studying a uniquely well-defined group, the radiation of corvid birds in the Indo-Pacific. From the beginning of the project I will have access to an existing database on the spatial distribution, phylogenetic relationships, habitat associations and morphological traits for these birds. I will combine this with building databases on the topographic complexity, vegetation, and ages of the Indo-Pacific islands, and supplement these data with generating primary field data from bird sampling and drone flights. The analytical approach will be based on mixed effect model analysis, null models and simulations. The results from this research will have a broad international interest, and will help the international research community to rise to the challenge of understanding patterns of species diversity – an understand that is crucial for protecting biodiversity in a changing world.

This project examines the critical and unforeseen role that infrastructure has played in the Buddhist revival in China and in China’s global Buddhist projects. Although both state-led developmental projects and religious revivalism in China have been widely discussed, they are usually treated as separate realms of study, as if one represents material development while the other represents immaterial perspectives. The main objective of my study is to show that these two movements are in fact interlinked and that Buddhism works as a form of infrastructure. I use an in-depth ethnographic method to explore the growing infrastructural connections between developmental and religious projects in Chinese domestic and transitional contexts by looking at Buddhist-related construction projects, schools, internet access, facilities, practices, and policies and their impact on the Buddhist revival in and outside China. My study investigates the much neglected relationship that exists between religious movements in society and infrastructural projects by the state. In doing so, it provides not only an alternative perspective from which to understand religious movements in the context of global China, but, more broadly, it offers a critical and theoretical reassessment of the relationships between materiality and immateriality, human and non-human agency, and object and subject. The University of Copenhagen is an ideal place in which to pursue my project. The Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies uniquely combines interdisciplinary inquiry and study across China Studies, Anthropology, and Religious Studies, all of which are crucial to my project. In particular, my project fits well with the research foci of the Department’s Center for Contemporary Buddhist Studies, a world-class research center led by Associate Professor Trine Brox with a focus on the mediating role that Buddhism plays for materiality, spirituality, economy, and value across contemporary societies.