 Her research focus is on the environmental history of agrarian societies and on Austrian environmental history, as well as the philosophy of science of inter- and transdisciplinary research.Having gained her higher education entrance qualification (Matura) in 1979, Verena Winiwarter completed the College for Industrial Chemistry in Vienna with distinction in 1981.She subsequently worked as a technician at the Institute for Analytical Chemistry, Department of Environmental Analysis at the Vienna University of Technology.