I am a postdoctoral researcher focusing on the social and political aspects of international conservation and development. I take an ethnographic approach to research; unpacking the discourses, assemblages, practices and processes of policy-making and intervention from the local to global scales, with an emphasis on East Africa. I draw on a wide range of disciplines including political ecology, science and technology studies (STS), social anthropology, social justice theory and policy studies.
On the CONVIVA project my research explores how conservation and development ideas/concepts take shape, how they interact with different actors and actor groups (their ‘social life’) and what the impacts and implications are of these processes. This work builds on my previous research on the social life of pilot projects in international conservation and development, exploring the narratives, dynamics and realities of REDD+ pilot projects in Tanzania.
