Madhur Anand, ecologist, modeler, and poet

Madhur Anand feels right at home at MAK'IT. The institute for advanced studies is in line with the work of the researcher from the University of Guelph in Canada, who has specialized in modeling complex systems for over 25 years. With her background in environmental sciences, mathematics, and humanities, she knows the subject well: "Practicing multidisciplinarity is not just about spending time together. Each discipline has its own language, and we need to think about translations to move from one to another, with interpreters, since we can't learn all the languages of every discipline."

With the ambition of bringing science and the arts together, the researcher goes even further: "Translation is essential in literature,and science should take inspiration from it!" Madhur Anand has made this the central theme of her first novel, To Place a Rabbit, which was published this spring by Knopf Canada (Penguin Random House Canada). The main character in the story is a scientist who befriends a novelist and offers to translate her latest book, published only in French, into its original language, a language the author herself cannot read or understand. And for good reason: she has lost the original manuscript of her work. The translation process will lead the scientist to gradually lose control of the course of events...

Tipping point

When asked about her dual roles as an author and scientist, Madhur Anand explains how the creative aspect became apparent to her from the very beginning of her academic career.

"During the last year of my thesis, I was unable to write; I had writer's block. When I finally managed to put words down on paper, it was a poem that came out. Since then, I haven't stopped writing poetry, and now I write novels too,"says the woman who has no explanation for this literary shift: "I didn't see it coming. That stage was a turning point in my career."

Tipping points are precisely a manifestation of this connection between her life as an artist and researcher. In her models, she focuses on ecological thresholds that can cause an ecosystem to shift to a new state, but also on social tipping points that could prompt society to respond to ecological and climate crises.

"In my models, I try to examine the positive and negative feedback loops between environmental systems and human dynamics. Most models do not make this connection. The idea is simple: environmental changes can trigger social changes, at the individual or societal level, and vice versa. These models therefore aim to understand how to better respond to crises." This topic was the subject of a MAK'IT seminar on May 23 and a workshop on July 7, 2025.

Madhur Anand's presence in Montpellier this spring is also a surprising coincidence, as the city is the setting for her new novel, which she conceived a few years ago during a brief visit to the Hérault city."I never imagined I would be in Montpellier when my book was released,"says the author, who held book signings at the Comédie du livre book fair in May 2025.