In the past decade, interdisciplinarity has increasingly become a buzzword in academia and beyond. Collaboration across disciplines and sectors is seen as a desirable trait for fostering scientific innovation and, often, for attracting grant money. However, the "how" of multidisciplinary endeavours is rarely discussed. While exciting and stimulating, collaborating with scholars who do not share our background can be quite frustrating. A lack of common terminology, differing epistemological premises, and the technicalities of specialised academic knowledge can often hinder clear communication. IAS offered me the opportunity to bridge these gaps in a welcoming, cosy environment designed specifically to promote difficult but necessary conversations.

I am an anthropologist interested in human-animal studies and the environmental humanities, and I came to IAS with a project on designing multispecies methods for studying animals in urban environments and social worlds. Since the beginning of my career, I have worked on projects within the subfield of multispecies anthropology and ethnography, which has compelled me to engage in dialogue with biologists, archaeologists, geneticists, geographers, and many others. I soon realised that during recurrent project meetings, it was extremely hard for me to follow my colleagues' presentations. What is an "isotope"? What is "epigenetics" actually about? And what does that graph even mean?

The truth is, we often do not understand each other; within the traditional disciplinary compartmentalisation of academia, methods are not always mutually validated across fields. To natural scientists, an anthropologist's ethnographic work may seem to produce lyrical, overly subjective literature. Conversely, those in the social sciences may consider the methods of natural scientists to produce a type of knowledge that is too narrow to explain complex phenomena at the intersection of animal and human lives. Mutual understanding and a genuine curiosity to grasp one another’s points of view are, therefore, crucial for any progress in multidisciplinary research.

Aware of these challenges, IAS created an environment that fosters collaboration and builds a multidisciplinary network. It has been a pleasure to exchange ideas with the staff, colleagues, and other fellows at IAS over the past months. Conversations over lunch prompted reflections on how we make knowledge accessible to different academic audiences. This often means returning to the foundations of our disciplinary thinking and explaining them to others. Open, curious questions such as "How do you choose your dataset?" or "What counts as a result for you?" can seem trivial at first, but they help us rethink premises we have long taken for granted. Indeed, discussing our methods is not only about what we do in our research, but also why we do it, and why we believe it is the best way to achieve results.

With these prompts in mind, and with the support of my co-applicant, Prof. Rivke Jaffe, and the ERC-ANIMAPOLIS team, I had the opportunity to organise two events at IAS. The first was my opening event, titled "How to Interview a Cat: The Challenges of Multispecies Ethnography," which attracted people from diverse backgrounds interested in more-than-humans. The second was a workshop titled "Are We Talking About the Same Animal?" in which I invited researchers from the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities. I asked them to focus their presentations on the questions they could not answer using their own methods, allowing others to offer suggestions during the debate. The workshop was incredibly stimulating and helpful for reflecting on my own research. 

IAS served as a wonderful hub for meeting current and former fellows, as well as artists-in-residence, with whom I hope to continue collaborating. My special thanks go to the director, Huub Dijstelbloem, the manager, Julia Hoffman, and the wonderful staff members—Edwina, Marel, Jayshri, Ana, and Carina—whose smiles and conversations made me feel at home during those cold days of the Amsterdam winter!