Google scholar: 1647 citations; three most cited recent publications

According to my Google Scholar profile my research has to date attracted a total of 1.647 citations (+16 since June 30th). This includes 85 citations so far in 2026 (+12 since June 30th). My h-index remains 22 and my i10-index 47. 

Among texts published 2022 or later (not counting the book Semiotic Agency: Science beyond Mechanism, co-written with Alexei Sharov, which appeared in 2022 but has 2021 as official publication year - and which has been cited 15 times so far this year alone), my most cited texts are:

Wasted GDP in the USA (2023): 14

Recreation in the outdoors—exploring the friluftsliv experience of adolescents at residential care (with Joakim Jiri Haaland, 2022): 14

The evolutionary origin (s) of the Umwelt (2022): 12

#44,5

Today I have had an article writing day devoted to my article "Prolegomena to lifeworld-oriented studies of contested climate pasts and futures", which is aimed for a special issue of Journal of Cognitive Historiography about "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research", with some 900 words added to the manuscript. This brings the number of writing days so far this Spring up to 44,5, including 27 article writing days.

Paper "What Characterizes a More-than-Human Phenomenology Suitable for the Anthropocene?" presented at NOSP 2026 in Tampere, Finland

Today I have presented my paper «What Characterizes a More-than-Human Phenomenology Suitable for the Anthropocene?» at the 22nd annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP). The conference, which has the theme “Phenomenology in the Anthropocene”, takes place at Tampere University, Finland, April 22-24th. My paper was given as part of the session «Uexküll’s Environments and Lifeworlds», which was chaired by Erika Ruonakoski and also featured presentations by Katja Tiisala and Niki Hadikoesoemo. Close to 30 people attended.

Paper «What Characterizes a More-than-Human Phenomenology Suitable for the Anthropocene?» scheduled for presentation April 23rd at NoSP 2026 in Tampere

I have been notified by the conference organizers of the Annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP 2026), which is to be held at Tampere University, Finland, April 22–24 2026, that my paper «What Characterizes a More-than-Human Phenomenology Suitable for the Anthropocene?» has been scheduled for oral presentation as part of the session «Uexküll’s Environments and Lifeworlds», which will take place in Linna K109 on Thursday April 23rd at 11:30–13:00.

See also the full program and the abstract book of the conference.

Umwelt theory and phenomenology article lauded in 2024 semiotics review article

In the article "Technological futures in semiotics: The year 2024 in review", published in Sign Systems Studies, Auli Viidalepp and Alin Olteanu have some kind words about my research related to Umwelt theory and its relevance for phenomenology. The article they refer to is "Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", which is openly available online.

Excerpt:

Drawing on umwelt theory, Morten Tønnessen (2024) takes new steps towards a more-than-human descriptive phenomenology. The value of his contribution as an integral and transdisciplinary framework cannot be overestimated. Tønnessen also indicates potential further applicability of the applied umwelt theory across 17 fields of research that study the perception and behaviour of humans and/or animals. To name a few less common perspectives, this framework could help in behavioural reframing of human ecology, address Anthropocene discourses in environmental humanities, model potential lifeworlds for astrobiology, or enrich psychological lifeworld studies, especially in “socio-ecological contexts and settings that involve human–animal interaction” (Tønnessen 2024: 334). The theory is also relevant for well-established epistemic communities such as the fields of sociology, political science, anthropology, (behavioural) economics, speculative and futures studies, and many others (Tønnessen 2024). In similar lines, we note Anton Markoš and Jana Švorcová’s (2024) theoretical development of the umwelt theory in regard to symbiosis.

Online semiotics workshop for University of Oran1 – Algeria scheduled, then delayed

I was scheduled to present a paper titled «Semiotics, animals, environment – Umwelt theory in the tradition of the Tartu-Copenhagen school of biosemiotics» online for University of Oran1 – Algeria, on Thursday January 8th, but pending formal approval this workshop has now been indeterminately delayed.

Abstract submitted for NoSP 2026, "Phenomenology in the Anthropocene"

I have just composed and submitted the abstract below to the organisers of the 22nd annual conference of the Nordic Society for Phenomenology (NoSP), "Phenomenology in the Anthropocene", which is to be held at Tampere University, in Tampere, Finland, April 22–24, 2026.

***

What characterizes a more-than-human phenomenology suitable for the Anthropocene?   

To address this question, it is pertinent to start out with the observation that the Anthropocene discourse is at its core a discussion about humanity´s impact on the natural environment that emerged from geology. At the same time, the Anthropocene has also over the last several years been vividly discussed from the perspectives of social sciences and the humanities. There is a disconnect between how the Anthropocene has been discussed in a natural science setting, and how it is being discussed in social science and humanities settings, with third-person objective perspectives predominating in the first and subjective perspectives prevailing in the others.

In my view, to be suitable for the circumstances of the Anthropocene, a more-than-human phenomenology must meet the following criteria: 

* It must account for human lifeworlds as well as non-human lifeworlds  

* It must account for human phenomena and non-human phenomena within a consistent and comprehensive theoretical framework 

* It must be capable of explaining how human agency can lead to material changes in the natural world, and how these material changes affect living conditions 

* It must be capable of tackling the problem of human bias which appears e.g. in the form of anthropocentrism and zoocentrism, and which distorts our thinking about nature  

I will present a version of more-than-human phenomenology that draws on biosemiotics and Jakob von Uexküll´s Umwelt theory which I will argue meets the abovementioned criteria. The relevance of such a brand of phenomenology is supported by the fact that Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty both engaged with von Uexküll´s work in their discussions about animal lifeworlds. By outlining the main characteristics of a more-than-human phenomenology suitable for the Anthropocene, I simultaneously address key issues related to the nature, scope, and purpose of ecophenomenology.

Text «The reindeer´s invisible world» included in art catalogue for Åfjord Art Month 2025

This Autumn I have written a text for an art catalogue, "Åfjord Art Month 2025", in relation to an art exhibition that takes place this month (November 2025). Specifically, I wrote the text «Reinsdyrets usynlige verden» for Ingvild Melberg Eikeland´s art installation at this art exhibition, which takes place in Åfjord municipality (pp. 48–50 in the art catalogue). An English translation, «The reindeer´s invisible world», is also included in the art catalogue (pp. 51–53). Eikeland´s art work and my text draws on the Umwelt theory of Jakob von Uexküll.

Climate pasts and futures paper presented at Lund University conference on cognition and evolution

Today I have presented my paper «Prospective Studies of Contested Climate Pasts and Futures» online at the conference "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research", which has been held at Lund University, Sweden, September 23-24th. My paper was part of session 5, «Contemporary society».

See also:

Climate pasts and futures paper scheduled for presentation at "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research" conference September 24th

Abstract for Lund conference: "Prospective studies of contested climate pasts and futures"

Abstract for Lund conference: "Prospective studies of contested climate pasts and futures"

I have just composed the abstract below for the organisers of the upcoming conference "Cognition and Evolution in Historical and Social Research", which is to be held September 23–24, at Lund University, Sweden (I have been invited to contribute). 

***

Prospective studies of contested climate pasts and futures  

While most researchers in relevant fields of study may agree that the current scale of human impact on current ecology is massive and unprecedented, there is no agreement on the time frame for the Anthropocene. Like the epoch itself, the current conceptualisation of the Anthropocene remains a work in progress. We are currently situated in the middle of an ongoing climate crisis. On this background, it may come as no surprise that both how we should understand recent modern history, and how we should understand possible climate futures, is contested. In this presentation I will outline how biosemiotics and Umwelt theory can contribute to prospective studies of past and future lifeworlds. I will then proceed to discuss how climate futures may be construed by way of a few examples. The presentation will draw on my articles «The study of past Umwelten» (Discipline Filosophische, 2023) and «What can be known about future Umwelten?» (The American Journal of Semiotics, 2019) as well as my forthcoming book Captured: CCS and the fight for the soul of the environmental movement (Bloomsbury Academic). In relation to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), I will touch upon the influence ideas about CCS have had on envisioned climate futures over the last 30 years or so. Disturbingly, there is no consensus among researchers or regulators on the relevant time scales for CO2 storages. Short retention times for CO2 in CO2 storages (<10,000 years) may delay rather than solve the problem of climate change, in effect exposing future generations to the risk of anthropogenic climate change caused in our time. Lastly, I will look into the challenges of long-term waste management in the contexts of radioactive waste and CO2 storage, respectively, including the challenge of communicating across multiple generations.  

Short bio: Morten Tønnessen (born 1976) is a professor of philosophy at University of Stavanger, Norway. Academic (b)log: https://utopianrealism.blogspot.com 

"Semiotic agency" book now my most cited text

On Google Scholar´s count, the book Semiotic agency: Science beyond mechanism (official publication year 2021, but appeared only in 2022), which I co-wrote with Alexei Sharov, has now overtaken "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" (published 2009 as the key article in my ph.d. work) as my most cited research publication (with 102 vs. 101 citations overall, and 10 vs. 2 so far this year).

See my profile in Google Scholar.

3 hours of condensed teaching in environmental psychology master course

Today I have given two one-hour lectures and a one-hour seminar digitally in the environmental psychology master course (MPS180) that is part of University of Stavanger´s master degree in psychology. The lectures (which were originally scheduled as two hours each) and seminar was earlier cancelled due to sickness. The topics were ecological psychology with emphasis on affordances, and lifeworld perspectives on human and animal perception and behaviour.

This concludes my teaching this Spring term.

Applied Umwelt theory article published

My article "Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology" has now been published, as part of the special issue "Umwelt theory". 

Reference:

— Tønnessen, Morten 2024. Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology. Sign Systems Studies 52 (3/4) (special issue “Umwelt theory”, eds. Riin Magnus and Nelly Mäekivi): 315–343. https://doi.org/10.12697/SSS.2024.52.3-4.02 

Google Scholar: "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" (2009) reaches 100 citations

According to my Google Scholar profile, my article "Umwelt transitions: Uexküll and environmental change" (2009), the signature article from my ph.d. work (completed and defended 2011), has now reached 100 citations, with 12 of them being from 2024. This is my first text to reach 100 citations. On Springer´s count, the article has been accessed more than 6.000 times.

#36

Today, during sick leave, I have had half an article writing day, mostly devoted to checking the proofs of my article "Applied umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology" which will appear in a special issue of Sign Systems Studies about applications of Umwelt theory shortly.

So far this Autumn I have had 36 writing days including 17 article writing days.

"Ecological semiotics" chapter in press; abstract now online

The abstract for my chapter "Ecological Semiotics", which is part of the 3rd edition of Elsevier´s Encyclopedia of Ecology, was published online on October 19th.

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-21964-1.00018-5

Abstract:

Ecological semiotics, or ecosemiotics, is the study of sign use by organisms in an ecological context. This chapter provides an outline of semiotic phenomena in ecology and sign processes at different levels of biological organization and explains how complexity can be understood in semiotic terms. It presents the basic theoretical outlook of ecological semiotics, with emphasis on lifeworld perspectives, particularly represented by the Umwelt theory of Jakob von Uexküll. Studies of sign use can help us to understand how sentient organisms interpret their environment and make choices that are informed by their sign use. In a more rudimentary sense, even plants, fungi and microorganisms have agency which can be framed in semiotic terms. The chapter also outlines the characteristics of sign use in different kinds of interspecies interaction. Finally, the relevance of ecological semiotics for human ecology is stressed. While ecosemiotics is amply informative applied to general ecology, it is especially pertinent in the context of understanding how human agency and sign use affects the environment at large. Ecological semiotics can help us understand how genuinely human sign use stands out from non-human sign use, and the ways in which human sign use is subject to cultural variation. Crucially, ecological semiotics can be informative with regard to understanding how human behavior and sign use affects non-human lifeworlds by triggering environmental change which is experienced in sign-mediated ways. This positions ecosemiotics to address issues of environmental sustainability.

Applied Umwelt theory article revision finished

Today I have made the last few edits in my revision of the article "Applied Umwelt theory in the context of phenomenological triangulation and descriptive phenomenology", with some 100 words added to the text. I have now resubmitted the manuscript to Sign Systems Studies.

"The study of past Umwelten" presented digitally at Fourth World Congress of Environmental History (WCEH4)

Today I have presented my paper "The study of past Umwelten" at The Fourth World Congress of Environmental History (WCEH4), held August 19-23rd at University of Oulu, Finland and online with the theme “Transitions, transformations and transdisciplinarity: Histories beyond history”, specifically in session 2 of the panel “Environmental biography as a methodological challenge”. About 15 people attended altogether.

See also: 

Discipline Filosophiche special issue on Uexküll now published, with "The study of past Umwelten"

Full article in UIS Brage

Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology’ (Biosemiotics) published online

The introduction to the special issue of Biosemiotics ‘Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology’, written by Carlo Brentari and me, has just been published online.

Reference:

Carlo Brentari and Morten Tønnessen 2024. Introduction to the Special Issue ‘Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology’. Editorial. Biosemiotics. Published online July 19th 2024. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12304-024-09583-w 

Abstract:

This introduction to the special issue “Umwelt Theory and Phenomenology” is composed of a brief theoretical introduction to phenomenology seen as a key attitude of philosophical research, an investigation of the possibilities offered by a combined application of phenomenology and biosemiotics, and an overview of the articles that are included in the special issue. The theoretical introduction stresses the possibility of distinguishing, within phenomenology, between approaches centred on the object (in other terms, the phenomenon), and subject-centred approaches which have emerged in the wake of Kantian transcendental idealism. The connection with biosemiotics is explored for both kinds of approaches, showing how Uexküll, and many other scholars after him, have used phenomenological tools and perspectives in the study of biological meaning and meaning-making processes. For each article in the collection, the overview of the articles indicates one or two points that we believe are of the greatest interest for the reader.

#46,5; Spring summary; ca. 26.000 words written in Spring 2024

Today I have had a writing day, the final one this Spring, consisting of half an article writing day, with some writing plans made for the autumn and minor work on the editorial for the upcoming special issue of Biosemiotics "Umwelt theory and phenomenology" which I co-edit with Carlo Brentari, as well as on the second article on friluftsliv and child protection that I co-write with Joakim Jiri Haaland, and half a book writing day, with some work done related to my book manuscript Captured: CCS and the fight for the sould of the environmental movement.

Altogether this Spring I have had 46,5 writing days, with 2,5 of these being logged as book article days (vs. 7,5 planned initially) and 44 as article writing days (vs. 40 planned initially). Altogether I had one less writing day than initially planned (46,5 vs. 47,5).

With 1.709 words written in June, the least any month this semester, in Spring 2024 I have altogether logged 26.073 words written. This is almost 3.000 words more than in Spring 2023, but significantly below the ca. 36.000 words I wrote in the first half year of 2020 or the ca. 45.000 words I wrote in the Spring semester that year with the first half of July included.