School of Social and Political Science

Background

I work interdisciplinary on the (fraught and promissory) relationship between people, nature, and technology. In particular I research the role of other species, particularly plants - and more recently pollinators, the significance of place, and the diverse knowledges and narratives drawn upon that shape - or could shape - sustain-able, responsible and just development trajectories.

Much of my research to date has focused ethnographically on emerging food and plant politics, particularly synthetic biology's 'lab-grown' food and it's implications for established food cultures, agricultural livelihoods, biodiversity and 'traditional' knowers, growers and users of plants and botanicals.

Part of this involved attending the UN Biodiversity COP meetings, researching the governance of synthetic biology and genetic resources, (digital) biopiracy, the bioeconomy and biocultural justice. The other part of this has been a multi-sited ethnographic journey 'following' Stevia / Ka’a he’ê from Indigenous herb to cash crop, to cash molecule, to cash DNA. In 2023, I was awarded a grant to turn this work into a book Unearthing Stevia's Promise (to be published in 2026).

I joined the University of Edinburgh in 2025 as a research fellow working alongside Professor Jane Calvert on an interdisciplinary collaborative exploration of Pollinator Pathmaker Living Artworks to re-imagine gardens, and what and who they are for. 

Broad research specialisms:

• Plant politics and agrarian futures.
• Gardens, pollinators and socioecological communities.
• De/anti-colonial, feminist Science & Technology Studies (STS).
• Inter-species empathy and kinship.
• UN Biodiversity governance: bioeconomy, biopiracy & synthetic biology.
• Political ecology and Agroecology.
• Corporate Social Responsibility / Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI).
• Multi-sited ethnography and creative interdisciplinary methods.

Qualifications

PhD Interdisciplinary Social Science (2021) University of Bristol 
MRes Global Political Economy: Transformations & Policy Analysis (2016) University of Bristol
BA (hons) International Development (2012) University of Sussex

Foundation Degree in Art & Design (2007) Falmouth University