I'm a student in the doctoral programme of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki. My research is at the intersection of agroecology, political ecology and youth employment and livelihoods. In particular, I focus on young farmers in Benin and their health-related motivations and strategies in using ecological farming methods.

Projects

Socio-ecological factors influencing illegal use of poison by farmers in Namibia - Implications for reconciling human activities and vulture conservation

Quantifying and characterising poison use in the communal farmlands of Namibia

I have expertise in tropical forest ecology, conservation and management. Having lived in the Asia-Pacific region for 25 years, I have a deep understanding of the forests ranging from the Himalayas through Southeast Asia and to Oceana. My main area of study is vegetation and plant ecology, which includes not only natural forest but other forms of vegetation (plantations, agriculture, etc). I have a strong botanical foundation to my research. I conduct research on scales ranging from the plant community (e.g. forest dynamics) to the region (e.g. vegetation change in Southeast Asia). I also have extensive research experience with community-based forest management. My research aims to quantitatively link habitat, resource and landscape dynamics with local actors (farmers). I use a wide range of research tools including social surveys of various types, quantitative forest surveys, policy analysis and spatial analysis/modeling such as the quantification of land cover change using remote sensing and GIS.