I am an Assistant Professor in European Studies with a focus on climate change and conflict at the University of Amsterdam, having joined the Faculty of Humanities in October 2020. Prior to this, I was a Lecturer in Geography at Nottingham Trent University (2018-20) and a Lecturer in Geography at the University of Exeter (2017-18). My PhD research was completed in the Department of Geography at Durham University and focused on the construction of racial and national identities in US and EU climate security discourses.
With a background as a political and cultural geographer, my research interests are broadly concerned with climate change politics. One strand of this research looks at how debates on climate-induced migration are linked to religious and racial identities, specifically in the context of changing imagined geographies of ‘Europe’ in climate security discourses. Another strand focuses on contemporary climate activism, particularly the links between climate-induced conflict and anti-war activism. A final strand of this research is concerned with thinking through political debates which link climate change, terrorism, and radicalisation together, in particular contemporary discussions about ‘extremism’ and climate change and what this means in practice.
At UvA, I teach on a range of European Studies courses. These include European Integration, The Geopolitics of Climate Security: A Critical Introduction, and the the European Politics Simulation Exercise. I also maintain an active interest in environmental sustainability in higher education, thinking about the pedagogical issues raised environmental challenges, geographical education and climate change, and the role of teachers as political subjects in responding to the climate crisis.