Physical and cultural flows of Lake Como, Italy: cross-current studies in limnology and anthropology

What do anthropology and limnology have in common, and in what ways might the social, natural and engineering sciences contribute to knowledge about the environment of which humans are an intrinsic part? With Italy's Lake Como at its centre, this thesis explores the multiple ways a single environment can be known within and across disciplinary fields, and social groups. The emergence and application of environmental knowledge across scientific and social domains is thus examined, building on recent developments in physical limnology and contemporary theories in anthropology. Four original journal articles constitute the bulk of the thesis. Two of these are grounded in the fields of physical limnology and anthropology respectively, while two canvass both fields of inquiry. The articles are linked by a dialectical process across the disciplines, which emerged as a result of a mixed methods approach. Integrated foci include numerical analyses and modelling of the Lake's hydrodynamics, ethnographic work among the Lake's drift-net fishers, comparative analysis of scientific and local practices of lake knowledge, and the governance implications of disconnected technical and local understandings of the Lake.