Second-year University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) PhD student Hana Manjusak’s research explores post-war reconstruction and focuses specifically on landmine clearance in Bosnia, a country that is one of the most mine-contaminated places in the world and home to her family. 

“Landmines have always been a known issue for me—my parents would warn me not to walk certain trails; I’d see warning signs in passing as I drove down certain roads, and it’s something that has directly affected my loved ones both during and after the war,” she said. 

Knowing this, Manjusak embarked on a semester of brainstorming with her advisor, SEAS Associate Professor Bilal Butt, to propose research that would foster her connection to and have a positive impact on Bosnia, where much of her family is from and she has strong personal ties to. Using landmines as the focal point of her research “illustrates how legacies of war can ingrain themselves in not only the sociopolitical aspects of societies, but also in the physical environment.”  

Manjusak details the impact of landmines and the number of ways they can affect communities through post-war injuries and deaths, trauma, and blocked development efforts. These complex components of her research “blur the boundary between peace and war and challenge us to reconsider whether it’s a binary at all.” 

Digging further into these complex nuances surrounding landmines both during and post wars, Manjusak explores how political, social and environmental change impact landmine clearance strategies and outcomes. To answer these questions, Manjusak is using a mixed-methods approach consisting of ethnographic-style interviews, observations at demining bases, and analysis of archival materials. “This was my first time doing such immersive work, and my advisor has been so helpful in supporting me in this space,” she said. “He came to Bosnia this summer as I was doing fieldwork to gain perspectives on my project that would help him better advise me, and he helped me execute some of my early interviews.”

Highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of her research, Manjusak notes that the conclusions she draws from her research will be relevant and impactful both within the environmental sector and beyond. Her work includes a complex environmental component that she hopes will make a meaningful contribution to both areas. “Clearance efforts are being disrupted by climate change and there is increased flooding, erosion and shifting landscapes that displace landmines and trigger detonations,” she explained. 

“Also, rising temperatures and extreme weather patterns are affecting the usability of equipment and safety of personnel. My overall goal is to deepen our understanding of the multi-faceted challenges that come with landmine clearance—rather than seeing them as solely technical issues with technical solutions. Ultimately, I hope it will provide insightful and contextually grounded perspectives on post-war policymaking.”

Before coming to SEAS, Manjusak was a student at Georgia Tech where she obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international affairs. She also minored in public policy, focusing her research efforts broadly on sustainable development with projects ranging from the creation of a Gender/Climate Vulnerability Index to analysis of environmental peacebuilding frameworks in Ukraine. These academic and course experiences helped Manjusak cultivate her interest in international politics and her skills in diplomacy, both on an international and a domestic scale.

“I had the exciting experience of witnessing the growth of climate diplomacy on an international scale,” Manjusak said.

As Manjusak was finishing up her master’s degree, she realized how important learning and being in school was to her, and this encouraged her to continue her education through a PhD. “I really love learning, and I could be in the classroom for hours,” she said. “My favorite classes have always been the three-hour ones, and I really love doing research, so this seemed like the perfect route for me.” Her coursework and professional experience at Georgia Tech taught Manjuask how important sustainability and development work is, and she began looking at programs that would support her in contributing to this field. 

She also was looking for programs that could connect her prior experiences in environmental governance, vulnerability reduction, and intersecting scientific knowledge and policies. “SEAS really drew me in because of its emphasis on being interdisciplinary. The program made me feel like I could explore these themes from the perspectives of multiple different fields,” Manjusak explained. After being a student at SEAS for two years, this remains true. Manjusak has had the opportunity to work with faculty members in the U-M’s departments of Anthropology and Slavic Languages and Literatures. “There are few other programs that offer this kind of flexibility and welcome such interesting crossovers in research.” 

Another aspect of SEAS that was exciting to Manjusak was the opportunity to work with her advisor, Bilal Butt. “I was really interested in his focus on political ecology and critical environmental geopolitics,” she explained. Fascinated by his work, Manjusak emailed him about her interest in the PhD program, set up a meeting and eventually joined his lab after being admitted to SEAS. “I can’t thank him enough for his help in that application process,” Manjusak noted. “He gave great guidance and was very supportive of me.” Butt’s lab is project based and consists of students focusing on political ecology and related themes. “It’s amazing how diverse his projects are,” said Manjusak, “and that helps us learn from each other by sharing papers and practicing presentations in the lab.”

Many of the other faculty members in SEAS do complex and impactful research within academia but work with policymakers and activists to apply their knowledge and conclusions, which is something else that excites Manjusak about being a student here. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve had one foot in academia and one foot in public service,” said Manjusak. “I can definitely see myself doing a blend of this kind of work in the future and constantly learning and growing through every project I take on.”