I am a Scientia Research Fellow and member of the Environmental Humanities group at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. I am also the convenor for the Environmental Humanities major. I have an established research record in the fields of political ecology and environmental history, and have written extensively on forest governance and energy justice, with a particular geographical focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.
My current research is focused on the changing geographies of energy poverty. How the emergence of new technologies (e.g., small-scale photovoltaic power), new trade dynamics and financial platforms (e.g., mobile money) have reshaped how people realise their energy needs in poor rural settings. I am currently engaged in research in northern Uganda.
I have also written extensively on forest governance in Sierra Leone, drawing from large-scale research projects that have been funded by the European Union, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and USAID. I am also in the process of finalising a monograph on Sierra Leone’s colonial forest governance history, titled Colonial Roots in Africa Soil: imperialism and the emergence of forest conservation in Sierra Leone.