I am a critical human geographer and leader within the interdisciplinary field of Political Ecology. By examining how natures are made by politics, history and culture, Political Ecology challenges the enduring idea of a fundamental separation between humans and natures. Instead of viewing ‘Nature’ as external and apolitical, it therefore interprets nature(s) as inherently political and deeply social. This makes Political Ecology an essential critical response to sustainability, one that strengthens social and environmental justice.

I currently lead a 5 year ERC Starting Grant, Roads to Sustainability, which investigates how new roads in the Amazon change environmental knowledges and politics, using these roads as a new conceptual entry point for understanding the global sustainable development project.

Completed projects investigated the early-take of the SDGs in Bolivia (a place where there are both intensifying commitments to resource extraction and radical alternatives) and the political ecology of post-neoliberalism in Bolivia (specifically, the TIPNIS).

I previously held positions as a Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, Lecturer at the University of Cambridge & Teaching Fellow at UCL. I was awarded my PhD in 2015 from the Global Development Institute (GDI), University of Manchester, supervised by Prof Dan Brockington & Dr Tanja Bastia

Within the School of Geography & Sustainable Development I am:

Director of Postgraduate Teaching & Programme Director of the Global Sustainable Development Masters

Outside of St Andrews I am:

An Editor at Geoforum