About me:

I am a sustainability scientist who uses a social-ecological systems lens to understand how nature contributes to and enhances human well-being. I have particular interests in

• the impact of socio-economic inequalities on people-nature relationships;
• the role of informality in urban resilience; and
• the application of creative futuring methods to explore transformations towards more just and sustainable futures.

Before joining the University of Exeter, I completed a PhD in Sustainability Science at the Stockholm Resilience Centre in Sweden, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher with the Natural Capital Project at the University of Minnesota in the United States. Most recently, I worked as a senior researcher at the Centre for Sustainability Transitions (CST) at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. At the CST, one of my key roles was to promote and coordinate interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge synthesis across the fields of resilience and development in the southern African region.

Interests:

• Ecosystem services and nature-based solutions
• Urban sustainability and resilience, particularly in the context of informality
• Inequality and natural resource governance
• Futures thinking and sustainability transformations
• Arts-based approaches in sustainability science

Qualifications:

2016 PhD in Sustainability Science (Stockholm University, Sweden)

2009 MSc in Conservation Biology (University of Cape Town, South Africa)

2006 BSc (Med) Honours in Cell Biology (University of Cape Town, South Africa)

2005 BSc in Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences (University of Cape Town, South Africa)

Additional roles:

I am the academic coordinator for the Study Abroad programme at the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences. For more information on the programme, please visit https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/studyabroad/.