E. A. (Annie) Welden, PhD
Human-Environment Geographer
Nature-based Solutions Governance
I am a human-environment geographer and interdisciplinary social scientist whose work focuses on environmental governance, the politics of conservation, Nature-based Solutions, and human-environment relations across scales. Theoretically, I draw upon political ecology, more-than-human geography, and science and technology studies to inform my thinking around the complex interconnections between people, animals, environments, institutions, policies, market structures, and more. Complex environmental problems require complex understandings of the environment.
My work sits at the science-policy interface, where I seek out both academic- and policy -focused collaborations to ensure my research has tangible effects. Not only do I research environmental problems, but I apply my work to invoke environmental progress and improve the problems I study. I have collaborated with WWF, Unearthodox, the Nature-based Solutions Initiative, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Pasture Fed Livestock Association, and the Oxford Policy Engagement Network.
I earned my PhD from the University of Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment in 2024, where I was affiliated with the Technological Life Lab, The Biodiversity Network, and the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery. I was under the supervision of Beth Greenhough and Jamie Lorimer. My research has been supported by Rotary International Global Grants, a Sloane-Robinson Foundation Grant, a Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery Grant, and Keble Association Study Awards.
Currently, I hold a Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellowship in Political Ecology at UC Berkeley Geography, under the mentorship of Michael Watts and Nathan Sayre. Here, I am continuing my research into Nature-based Solutions, more-than-human geography, and interdisciplinary environmental thought.
Selected publications
Journal Articles [*denotes joint first authorship]
Welden, E.A.*, Montana, J.*, McBain, L., & Webb, E. (2026). ‘Catalysing an Interdisciplinary Mindset for Environmental Research through Theatre Games’ Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.
Montana, J.*, Welden, E.A.*, Anderson, L.M., Bennett, A., Byfuglien, A., Erfurth, S., Fair, H., Greenhough, B., Hafferty, C., Hirons, M., Kumeh, E., Maguire-Rajpaul, V., McDermott, C., Mulyani, M., & Picot, L. (2025). ‘Ten Facts from Critical and Interpretive Social Sciences for Environmental Research(link is external).’ iScience.
Cusworth, G., Lorimer, J., and Welden, E.A. (2024) Farming for the Patchy Anthropocene: The spatial imaginaries of regenerative agriculture(link is external). The Geographical Journal.
Welden, E.A. (2023) Conceptualising Multispecies Collaboration: Work, animal labour and Nature-based Solutions(link is external). Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.
Chausson, A., Welden, E.A., Melanidis, M., Gray, E., Hirons, M., Seddon, N. (2023) Going beyond market-based mechanisms to finance Nature-based Solutions and foster sustainable futures(link is external). PLOS Climate.
Welden, E.A. and Besel, R.D. (2022) 'Women need not apply:' Sylvia Earle, binary oscillations, and the ecofeminist rhetoric of Mission Blue(link is external). Feminist Media Studies.
Welden, E.A.*, Chausson, A.* and Melanidis, M. (2021) Leveraging nature-based solutions for transformation: Reconnecting people and nature(link is external). People and Nature.
Policy Reports, Interdisciplinary Tools, and Public Engagement Papers
Montana, J., Welden, E.A., McBain, L., & Webb, E. (2026). Theatre Games for Environmental Researchers: An activity pack for interdisciplinary mindsets(link is external). Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery.
Chausson, A., Burge, A., Spiegelenberg, F., Welden, E.A., & Melanidis, M. (2024) Nature-based Solutions: Narratives, frames, and future horizons(link is external). Unearthodox.
Welden, E.A. & Montana, J. (2024) Experimenting with non-traditional communication for interdisciplinary environmental research(link is external). Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery.
Montana, J., Gopalakrishna, T., Welden, E.A., Rosaria, Canney, S., Chausson, A., Farhadinia, M., Girardin, C., Martinez Del Rio, M., Passoni, G., Prouchet, L., and Zepeda, C. (2021) Academic policy engagement for biodiversity needs to take transdisciplinarity seriously(link is external). The Biodiversity Network, University of Oxford.
Chausson, A., Welden, E.A., and Melanidis, M. (2021) Leveraging Nature-based Solutions for transformation: Reconnecting people and nature (commentary)(link is external). Mongabay.
Montana, J., Gopalakrishna, T., Rosaria, Welden, E.A. (2021) As nature climbs up the political agenda, how can researchers better engage with policy on biodiversity?(link is external)School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford.
Conference Presentations & Invited Talks
Conference Papers:
Translating Theory and Philosophy into Conservation Science: An applied approach to foster interdisciplinarity through novel communication and creative engagement. Poster on the Transformative Change Session, World Biodiversity Forum, Davos, Switzerland, 2026.
More-than-Human Choreography in the Making of Riverine Worlds. Panel: New Fluvial Geographies. American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 2026.
Conceptualising More-than-Human Metabolic Labour for the Anthropocene. Panel: Metabolic Returns, Metabolic Geographies? Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference, London, 2024.
Animals in/as Nature-based Solutions. Panel: Animals in/and climate changed geographies. Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference, London, 2023.
Accessing Animal Infrastructures. Panel: Multispecies Methods for More-Than-Human Worlds. Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference, London, 2021.
Beaver Biopolitics: Rhetorics of death, not-death, and life in beaver infrastructures. International Communication Association’s Conference on Communication and the Environment, University of Tasmania, AUS, 2021.
Animal Infrastructures as Post-Carbon Infrastructure in the Anthropocene. Panel: Post-Carbon Infrastructures: Remaking Human/Earth Relations in the Anthropocene. Royal Anthropological Institute’s Conference on Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present, and Future, British Museum, London, 2021.
Working with Beavers: Possibilities for multispecies collaborations in NbS Infrastructures. Poster presented at theNature-based Solutions Initiative’s NbS Digital Dialogues Conference, University of Oxford, U.K, 2020.
Women, Climate, and Sea-Level Rise: An ecofeminist approach to move above the surface of soft law stagnation. Paper presented at the International Environmental Communication Association’s Conference on Communication and Environment, University of British Columbia, Canada, 2019.
“Women Need Not Apply:” Sylvia Earle, Ecofeminism, and the (Dis)empowering Rhetoric of Mission Blue. Paper presented at the International Environmental Communication Association’s Conference on Communication and Environment, University of Leicester, U.K., 2017.
Invited Speaker:
Nature-based Solutions and the Infrastructuralisation of ‘Nature.’ Geography Department Colloquium, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 2026.
(Critical) Animal Studies at Berkeley. Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Seminar, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 2025.
Infrastructures in, of, and for the Anthropocene. The Centre of Excellence for Anthropocene History, KTH, Stockholm, Sweden, 2025.
The Intimate Multi-species Geographies of Global Crises. Department of Political Ecology (DOPE+) Conference, Lexington, KY, 2024.
Animal Infrastructure: A more-than-human approach to Nature-based Solutions. Nature-based Solutions Initiative, Dept. of Biology, University of Oxford, U.K, 2022.
Reflection on the Biodiversity Case Studies of the Pasture-Fed Livestock Association. Oxford Real Farming Conference, Oxford, U.K, 2022.
Climate Change: Learn how to make a difference. The American Association of University Women’s Girls4STEM Webinar Series, Lafayette-Moraga-Orinda, CA, 2021.
Book Launch Respondent for Dr. Alexandra Palmer’s Ethical Debates in Orangutan Conservation. Routledge. Virtual event at Keble College, University of Oxford, U.K., 2020.
Legal Challenges and Possibilities for Nature-based Solutions: The case of REDD+. The Oxford Biodiversity Network, University of Oxford, U.K., 2020.
Organized Sessions and Workshops:
Catalysing Interdisciplinarity in Environmental Research. Workshop for the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery (co-chaired by E.A. Welden and Jasper Montana). University of Oxford, Old Fire Station, Oxford, 2024.
The Place of Social Science in Environmental Research. Workshop for the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery (co-chaired by E.A. Welden and Jasper Montana). University of Oxford, Oxford, 2023.
Enfleshment: Cycles of metabolic, probiotic, and reproductive labour in the production of animal infrastructures. Workshop: Metabolic Geographies (co-chaired by E.A. Welden and Jonathon Turnbull). Jesus College and Oxford School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford, 2023.
The (Dirty) Labor of Regeneration: Muck, mud, and the making of animal infrastructure. Panel: Dirt, labor, death and the more-than-human (co-chaired by Hannah Fair and E.A. Welden). American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, 2023.