MEET OUR TEAM
ANNE DAFFERTSHOFER
FOUNDER; HOST
Before moving to Edinburgh in 2019, Anne lived in Berlin for five years, during which she studied art history at Humboldt University and worked in various positions in the art world. After completing a postgraduate degree in modern and contemporary art history at Edinburgh College of Art, Anne began her PhD at the University of St Andrews. Her doctoral research explores the notion of 'anthropocene mobilities' in and through contemporary art, with a specific focus on artists born after 1980.
She is particularly interested in ecocritical ways of writing histories of art, environmental history, conceptions of nature and landscape, relationships with the more-than-human, wetlands in art, and also post-growth, slow living and generally holistic approaches to art and life.
Anne is a member of the Association for Art History's DECR project board & was one of the 2023 Scotland-based recipients of the EARTH scholarship (British Council/ SGSAH).
Looking North was born out of Anne's desire to bring together the knowledge and questions from her research, and her wish to connect more deeply with the country and people that welcomed her with open arms: Scotland. She is responsible for conception, planning, artist liaison and fundraising, and is involved in writing event descriptions and hosting talks.
EMMA DODDS
FOUNDER; MARKETING AND DESIGN MANAGER
In 2019, Emma followed her dream of living abroad and enrolled in the University of Edinburgh's 'Contemporary Art History: Curating and Criticism' program. Here, she explored the relationship between art and technology, culminating in her thesis, "The Technologised Other: Cyborgs, Posthumans, and the Transhumanist Dilemma of Embodiment in Contemporary Art."
Post-graduation, Emma spent a year working at a London-based PR company before moving to her current role as a Marketing Executive at a tech company in Cambridge, where she continues to infuse her marketing strategies with creativity and digital savvy.
As Marketing and Design Manager of Looking North, Emma oversees the organisation’s brand strategy, designing, drafting and editing all social and marketing content.
TORI CHAMPION
FOUNDER; FORMER CO-HOST
Tori is a doctoral candidate in the School of Art History at the University of St Andrews. Her research broadly concerns the art of France and Great Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and her primary interests include women as artists and subjects, gendered iconography, the complexities of shared authorship, and the global reach and implications of natural history illustration. Her PhD thesis, currently titled 'Marie-Thérèse Reboul Vien and the Origins of Neoclassicism', will form the first complete study of the life and work of the eighteenth-century French artist-naturalist Marie-Thérèse Reboul Vien (1735-1806). Tori holds a BS in Public Policy Analysis and International Business from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and an MA in Art History from the University of Washington. In the spring of 2021 Tori completed a master’s thesis at the University of Washington titled ‘Le pinceau à la main: The Intertwined Lives and Careers of Madeleine Françoise Basseporte and Marie-Thérèse Reboul Vien’.
Tori has been involved in planning the first two rounds of Looking North, with responsibilities including artist liaison, outreach, fundraising, and the writing and editing of promotional material, in addition to co-hosting the talks. Furthermore, she contributed to the planning and organisation of the in-person screening event at the Byre Theatre in March 2023. In Part III of the Looking North project, Tori will continue to co-host and provide administrative support.
JAMES CROOKS
IT & TECHNICAL SUPPORT
James is the Centre for Energy Ethics' Communications Officer. He reliably sets up our Zoom Webinars, and generously helps us with most things IT and tech-related - in short, without him, each event would be significantly more nerve-wrecking. Moreover, he kindly edits and uploads the recording for each talk, and supports us with his guidance, to-do lists and lovely pre-event chats. We can't thank you enough, James!
