Research

Nature-based Solutions

Much of my work focuses on the case of Nature-based Solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss, defined by the IUCN as ‘actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.’ I research Nature-based Solutions as a global policy discourse, research agenda, and set of local interventions, both globally and locally. I study how Nature-based Solutions’ proposal to ‘work with nature’ plays out through the bodies of nonhumans, like beavers in wetland restoration and cattle in regenerative agriculture, who become enrolled as the foundational infrastructure of the ‘solution’ being enacted. I consider what these types of interventions mean for human-environment relations and environmental governance more broadly. 

This work traverses the academic and policy spheres, including publications in academic journals and policy-facing reports. 

Thematic Publications

More-than-Human Geography

Many of my modes of inquiry fall under the theme of More-than-Human Geography, a field which addresses the human-nature dualism by highlighting the connections between—and assemblages of—humans, animals, plants, machines, technologies, and more. This helps me to unpack and understand the world of complex interconnections that exist within a given environmental case. For example, I have conducted extensive fieldwork around beaver-assisted wetland restoration and the managed grazing of cattle in regenerative agriculture. In both cases, I use more-than-human methods and theory to consider animal and ecosystem agency, human-animal relations, and multiple modes and layers of power. My PhD explored how animal lives and bodies become enrolled as, enmeshed with, and enfleshed as the infrastructure of Nature-based Solutions. 

Thematic Publications

Interdisciplinary Environmental Thought

I am also deeply interested in how researchers collaboratively tackling environmental crises work well together and actively practice interdisciplinarity across disciplinary divides. Interdisciplinarity—the convergence of researchers from different schools of thought and methodology—is widely accepted in the research community as necessary to tackle complex environmental issues. However, practicing interdisciplinarity well is much more complicated than it sounds, as different disciplines have different methods, theories, cultures, and standards of evidence with which they approach the same question. Thus, alongside my collaborator Dr. Jasper Montana, I work on identifying these divides, thinking reflexively about how to bridge them, and developing creative methods for interdisciplinary groups and organisations to use. 

Recently, we published a paper in iScience titled, ‘Ten facts from critical and interpretive social sciences for environmental research,’ which reviews the difficulties with interdisciplinarity—particularly in the division between the natural and social sciences—and presents the value social science can bring to interdisciplinary environmental collaborations. The paper itself is meant to serve as a bridge between disciplines, establishing a shared foundation of understanding. 

Alongside two theatre practitioners, we developed an activity pack to spark interdisciplinary thinking and practice through role-play and through the body, titled ‘Theatre games for environmental researchers: An activity pack for interdisciplinary mindsets.’ Tested in a series of workshops, these activities are designed for interdisciplinary groups to use, sparking play and discussion that leads to better understanding.

Thematic Publications