Benjamin Brendel is a research associate in modern history at Philipps University Marburg (Germany). His research interests are in global history, international relations, the history of environment and critical infrastructure. In his current project he looks at the use and the contradicting political perception of pesticides, with special focus on the economy of food production and trade of toxic goods in a transatlantic setting during the 19^th and 20^th century. His dissertation published in 2019 analyzes the political impact of large dam constructions between the 1930s and the 1970s in the US, Spain and Egypt. A broader range of articles deals with the history of Nazis in exile after 1945, the politics of disease control and the history of smell.