Zarah Cleve is a PhD student in the History Department at Ghent University, currently working on the ERC project (Post)colonial Cattle Frontiers under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Samuël Coghe. Her research explores the role of veterinary knowledge and technologies in improving cattle health and physical constitution in Africa, with her focus being on the disease African Animal Trypanosomiasis in the Belgian Congo, Ruanda, and Burundi during the colonial and early post-colonial periods.
Before joining Ghent University, Zarah completed a bachelor's degree in History and German Literature at Humboldt University in Berlin and earned a master's degree in Colonial and Global History from Leiden University, where her thesis examined the influence of Dutch missionaries on nationalism in Western New Guinea. Additionally, Zarah holds a postgraduate law degree (LLB) from University College Cork.
Her research interests span global history, nationalism, and colonialism, particularly its connections to and intersection with religion and science.