DR MAXIMILIAN GREGOR HEPACH
Assistant Professor (Research) in Geography
Wellcome Trust Early Career Fellow
Durham University
As a historical and cultural geographer of climate change, my current research explores the physiological and psychological impact of unprecedented weather. My Wellcome Trust-funded project "Under Pressure: A Historical and Cultural Geography of Meteorosensitivity" (2024-2029) examines the complex history of how we understand weather's effects on the human body.
My research traces the development of medical meteorology and climatology from the 19th century to the present, uncovering how knowledge around the "meteorological body" was produced and operationalised. Through extensive archival work and expert interviews across the UK and Germany, I connect these historical understandings to contemporary weather-health practices in both countries under pressure from climate change.