Human Geography

My project aims to explore how factors: politics and geography, biological factors and government actions, affect bodily autonomy in East Africa, particularly in Ethiopia and Kenya. In doing so, it examines the influence of issues such as political in/stability, and international aid as well as biological determinism (the idea that genetics shape behaviour and social outcome) on advocacy efforts of NGOs and activists. I will investigate how state violence and discriminatory laws impact these groups’ rights.

My research focuses on disaster narratives, specifically around volcanic activity. Through lived experience and interaction with volcanism, communities develop strong cultural ties to the landscape and a heterogeneous local disaster knowledge, which may be shared in narrative or story form. An understanding of these knowledges is crucial to both effective volcanic risk management and building of relationships between disaster managers and communities. By completing a systematic review of existing literature around disaster storytelling and ethnographic research within a specific community, I hope to build upon existing academic work around local disaster knowledges and contribute to a decolonisation of disaster research.

My PhD project will investigate how feminist humanitarian networks challenge inequalities in the aftermath of disasters, and how their everyday practices can foster long-term, transformative change. The research seeks to inform post-disaster frameworks, policies and strategies by embedding gender-sensitive approaches into disaster recovery. Ultimately, I aim to bridge theory and practice by developing gender-sensitive frameworks for disaster management that can deliver tangible, equitable impacts. 

In Western literary geography, Oceania has often been exoticised (Kothari & Palis, 2024) with its stories extracted by white male geographers/explorers via violent encounters with Indigenous populations. These gendered colonial portrayals silence numerous Oceanian voices, particularly women’s (Kabutaulaka, 2015). While post-/de-colonial scholars have challenged this silence, women’s voices have remained peripheral. With this project, I aim to disrupt this and counter the tendency to undervalue orature, by foregrounding Indigenous women’s stories in transmedial forms (beyond written formats). Methodologically, I focus on decentralising the researcher from storying processes by centring Indigenous story-holders (Tuhiwai Smith, 2012). I intend to both make Indigenous stories visible, and co-create stories that focus on island women’s lived experiences.