Personale docente

I am professore ordinario in political and economic geography, at the University of Parma, where I teach around global studies, international development, and the role of science in society.

I am interested in the role science, technology and innovation plays in poverty alleviation and global development. While my work has been primarily focused on Africa I have also worked in Latin America, South and South East Asia. In particular, I am interested in how processes of knowledge production have worked in the past and the present day to shape how we understand the world to work, and - importantly - how we want to change it. I have examined a number of scientific disciplines and technological innovations to shed light on the role science plays in shaping our world, for good or for ill.

My current 'big project' is pulling together a mongraph that has grown out of my previous ERC grant, that traces complex histories of research into and control and treatment of African trypanosomiasis in both humans and animals across the tsetse fly belt of Africa. I am also looking at developing a new project that looks at various forms of sustainable frontierlands - places that act as bellwethers for the impacts of environmental change.

Prior to joining the University of Parma I held a personal chair in African and Development Studies and was Vice Principal International at the University of Edinburgh. I continue to hold an honorary professorship at Edinburgh. Even earlier in my career, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to study for my MSc and PhD at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, which was a formative experience for me. I am very committed to higher education transforming lives through learning, expiencing and community building.