I’m a researcher and development practitioner interested in all things climate change, disasters, fragility and development. This site hosts some of my research, materials and mind-ramblings.
A bit about me: I’ve spent most of my career thinking about ways to help communities prepare, respond and adapt to different shocks. Much of this has revolved around advising and supporting NGOs, multilateral agencies and national governments in mainstreaming resilience into plans and policies. My background is in environmental science and international development, with a PhD focused on innovations for measuring resilience to climate extremes (using mobile phone surveys and perception-based evaluation methods).
I currently work at the World Bank as a Senior Climate Change Specialist in the Research, Evidence and Diagnostics (RED) unit of the Fragility, Conflict and Violence Group.
I lead the design and coordination of the World Bank’s internal conflict and fragility risk-monitoring system, which flags countries at risk of current or future deterioration, draws together inputs from across the World Bank Group and supports quarterly briefings to senior leadership.
My wider work focuses on climate and FCV, especially access to climate finance in fragile settings and the peace and social dividends of climate action. I also work on crisis preparedness, forecasting and the responsible use of AI and real-time risk information in World Bank operations and strategy.
I’ve previously managed a number of large technical assistance programmes across Africa and Asia, having held permanent and visiting positions at leading think tanks, research institutes and multilateral development organisations, including: the Overseas Development Institute; United Nations Development Programme; World Food Programme; CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS); Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).
Policy-oriented research and technical advice are at the core of what I do. I have been fortunate to have research published in a number of leading journals including Nature Climate Change, Global Environmental Change and Climatic Change, as well as contributing pieces for media outlets such as The Guardian, Thomson Reuters, and Devex.
My Research gives an overview of my current interests. The Publications page brings together journal articles, reports, practical outputs and selected commentary. Tools & Resources explains some of the thinking behind my earlier work on resilience measurement and collects guides that may be useful in practice. My CV is the more formal career record. You can also find me on LinkedIn and Google Scholar, or email me.
HPA-AN, MYANMAR
2018
This was taken during community consultations in Hpa-An, Myanmar, in 2018, as part of fieldwork on household resilience to flooding in post-conflict areas.
Working with ODI, Mercy Corps, other NGOs and UN agencies, we distributed 2,000 mobile phones and solar chargers and helped set up Myanmar’s first mobile phone surveying company. The idea was to keep listening after the field visits, following households’ experiences of flooding and recovery over time.
