Exploring Indigenous Health and Wellbeing in the Context of Anthropogenic Climate Change

In July 2025 I worked together with my dear colleagues Jeevan Toor (UCL Institute for Global Health) and Paulina Serrano Tama (UCL Anthropology) to organise a research symposium and sandpit on the topic of 'Exploring Indigenous Health and Wellbeing in the Context of Anthropogenic Climate Change'. This event brought together researchers from a broad range of disciplines, including anthropology, literary studies, geography, engineering, and global health to unpack the strengths, resilience and survivance of Indigenous communities; worldviews and practices related to the changing environment and more than human world; and explore Indigenous climate action, activism, adaptation and mitigation. 

The research symposium consisted of four themed panels. The first panel, 'Languages and Temporalities’, included presentations from Alexandra Effe (Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages, University of Oslo); Claudia Ramírez Julio (Slade School of Fine Art, UCL), and Elisa Randazzo (Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP), UCL). The panellists raised critical questions which set the tone for the rest of the day - what do we mean when we talk about 'climate change' or 'the Anthropocene'? Whose terms are these, what purpose do they serve, and who do they resonate for? The presentations discussed how visual, spoke and written language shapes identity, and how storytelling can enable us to reclaim histories and re-signify the present.

The second panel, 'More than Human Relations', featured contributions from Nadezhda Mamontova (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham), Bo Yang, and Rosalyn Bold (both Department of Anthropology, UCL). The plurality of knowledges and systems of knowledge creation; reciprocity between and among diverse biotic and abiotic agents; and evolving rhythms of everyday life emerged as cross-cutting themes in these three fascinating presentations.

The third panel, '(Re)centring the Margins', consisted of presentations from Germán Andrés Alarcón Garavito (School of Government, Universidad de los Andes), Yasemin Didem Aktas (Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, UCL), and Jeevan Toor (Institute for Global Health, UCL). These presentations demonstrated how climate change intersects with multiple forms of oppression to concentrate poor mental and physical health outcomes among geographically, politically, and culturally marginalised populations. The presentations also emphasised the importance of strengths-based approaches, and highlighted the capacity, adaptability and strength of Indigenous peoples.

The fourth and final panel, 'Decolonial Feminist Ecologies', featured presentations from Sangita Thebe Limbu (Urban Institute, University of Sheffield), Gabriella Santini and Paulina Serrano Tama (both Department of Anthropology, UCL). These diverse presentations were united by a compelling feminist analysis of power relations, and careful attention to the ways that experiences of climate change shape, and are shaped by, intersecting and multi-level gendered dynamics.

The research sandpit opened with a networking session which gave the participants a chance to get to know each other better and identify common threads between their work and that of others. After this was a virtual panel on ‘meaningful partnerships for research on Indigenous health and climate change’, chaired by Professor Audrey Prost (UCL). The panel consisted of Dr Sachin Barbde and Subhashree Samal (Ekjut, India); Dr Jennifer Leason (University of Calgary) and Professor Jenevieve Mannell (UCL). In the afternoon, we did a poster making activity. Participants were provided with drawing and collage materials, and asked to make a poster depicting their dream research project. This stimulated a discussion about possible future projects and next steps following on from the workshop, including collaborative research projects, a special issue, and a conference panel. 

This event was funded by UCL SHS Health Mind and Society initiative and the IAS Octagon Small Grants Fund. 

Critical pedagogies in higher education

Collaborative Reflexivity Peer Group

Together with a small group of peers in IGH, I am part of a collaborative reflexivity discussion and practice group. We all started our PhD studies in 2020-2021, and we all use qualitative, mixed and/ or participatory methods to investigate sensitive topics in global health. We identified a need for an accountable and supportive space to discuss emerging ethical and practical issues in our research, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic and related public health measures threw our research plans in to disarray. Based on this we have met monthly since April 2021. We shared our reflections on this process in a presentation at the Critical Global Health Symposium at UCL in 2023.

Gender and Sexuality Research Student Showcase

In the spring of 2021, I organised a one-day online research showcase for students working on any aspect of gender and sexuality across UCL. This event was funded by UCL Organisational Development through the Researcher Led Initiative Awards.