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Kate Massarella

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Postdoctoral Researcher, Wageningen University

I am a postdoctoral researcher focusing on the social and political aspects of international conservation and development. I take an ethnographic approach to research; unpacking the discourses, assemblages, practices and processes of policy-making and intervention from the local to global scales. I draw on a wide range of disciplines including political ecology, science and technology studies (STS), social anthropology, social justice theory and policy studies.

I am currently working on the CONVIVA project at the University of Wageningen (convivialconservation.com/), using multi-sited ethnography to explore how new conservation and development ideas/concepts take shape, how they interact with different actors and actor groups (their 'social life') and what the impacts and implications are of these processes. This work builds on my PhD research, in which I unpacked the social life of pilot projects in international conservation and development. Using an in-depth case study of REDD+ pilot projects in Tanzania, I explored the narratives, dynamics and realities of piloting and the impacts and implications they have beyond project timelines and objectives.

Experience

  • 2019–present
    Postdoctoral research associate, Wageningen University
  • 2018–2018
    Postdoctoral research associate, University of Leeds
  • 2014–2018
    Doctoral teaching assistant, University of Leeds

Education

  • 2018 
    University of York, PhD in environmental social science
  • 2013 
    University of Leeds, MSc in sustainability (environment and development)

Publications

  • 2020
    Transformation is what you expect, models are what you get: REDD+ and models in conservation and development, Journal of Political Ecology
  • 2020
    Building authority and legitimacy in transnational climate change governance: Evidence from the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force, Global Environmental Change
  • 2020
    Ecotourism and conservation under COVID-19 and beyond, ATLAS Tourism and Leisure Review
  • 2020
    'Close the tap!': COVID-19 and the need for convivial conservation, Journal of Australian Political Economy
  • 2018
    REDD+, hype, hope and disappointment: The dynamics of expectations in conservation and development pilot projects, World Development

Grants and Contracts

  • 2014
    PhD studentship
    Role:
    Funding Source:
    Economics and Social Research Council (ESRC) UK - White Rose DTC