Sustainable Development
I have over 21 years of experience working internationally in sustainable development. Projects included climate resilience, community economic development, and women’s empowerment in El Salvador; capacity building in community-based conservation work in Peru; leadership development and coaching for sustainability in Bolivia and Nigeria.
In 2017, I shifted my focus to specifically to climate change. Drawing on qualitative social science research, I conducted a multi-year field study of adaptation strategies used in Guatemalan coffee communities and the innovations of this global coffee value chain involving buyers and wholesale-retailers in the USA. In this work, I focused on the human dimensions of meaning-making, the processes towards improved collaboration, and the mechanisms for scaling impact.
Key skills:
- Astute problem-solving skills on complex issues
- Clear, motivational public speaking skills tailored to the audience
- Project design and coordination
- Intuitive, skillful group facilitation
- Grant writing, project management, and financial management
- Event coordination
- Developmental evaluation
Sample of Previous Projects
Leadership development programming, Brazil nut and artichoke value chains (Peru), Facilitation and design (2014-2015)
Facilitation and design for the Integral Leadership Program of Brazil nut value chains (Peru and Bolivia), One Sky – Canadian Institute for Sustainable Living (2013-2015)
Consulting on a multi-scale trans-disciplinary vulnerability assessment and climate change adaptation project, Northwestern BC, design, workshop facilitation, and writing: “Applying Livelihood Methods for Climate Change Adaptation” (2011-2012)
Designed and delivered a series of workshops for the Integrated Land Management Bureau (ILMB) Smithers, BC in 2008-2009 on the ‘social side of planning’ that deals with integrating diverse perspectives and values in land use management decisions.
Leading From Within, curriculum design and facilitation, One Sky’s leadership development program in Calabar, Nigeria (2009-2011)
Capacity building for community-based conservation, in partnership with the Amazon Conservation Association, Peru (2007-2009)
Developmental Evaluation consulting with BC Healthy Communities (2016-2017)
Monitoring and evaluation of conservation engagement, in partnership with the Asociación para la Conservación Amazónica (2009)
Teaching
I have taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels at three universities since 2006, in classrooms, online, and in field courses.
In the Department of Sociology and Human Geography at the University of Oslo, I was Course Coordinator and Lecturer, SGO2500 North South Development, Lecturer and Seminar Leader, SGO2302 Environment and Society, Lecturer HGO3200 Environment and Innovation, and Lecturer in HGO4302 Transformations to Sustainability between 2017-2019. I have supervised thesis for graduate students, such as in the Master of Arts in Environmental Education and Communication at Royal Roads University. I was also Adjunct Faculty, John F. Kennedy University, School for Holistic Studies (2006-2013) Taught at the graduate level on campus and also in a blended format (teaching online courses with two retreat intensives annually), and also assisted in the successful accreditation process for the university’s first online graduate program.
Key skills:
- Excellent written communication for academic as well as public documents
- Engaged lectures combining didactic, interpersonal, and reflective teaching tools
Research
Action research, or research for impact, has been a thread through all of my work experience. Previously carried out in partnership with development NGOs (see below), I have more recently shifted that to be based at University of Oslo (UiO) with connections at the University of British Columbia (UBC).
Postdoctoral fellowships, UBC: Urban Climate Action 2021-2022 MéridaLabs, Mechancial Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Climate Action Pathways, 2023-2025, Forests and Communities in Transition Lab, Faculty of Forestry.
Doctoral Fellow, Coffee Connects the Americas: Climate Change Adaptation Through Collaboration, part of AdaptationCONNECTS at UiO, funded by the Research Council of Norway and involving coffee communities in Guatemala as well as the global coffee value chain to prominent wholesale-retailers in North America.
Primary Investigator, Community Resilience and Climate Change Adaptation in El Salvador research project, funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 2010-2011, involving photo voice, focus groups, adult learning sessions, and community adaptation planning in partnership with Salvadoran partner organization Centro Bartolome de las Casas.
Primary Investigator, Developing Capacity and Community Well-being: Action Research on an Integral Capacity Development Approach in Peru, in 2009-2010, funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), in collaboration with Amazon Conservation Association, resulting in an evaluation framework to assess the full spectrum impact of leadership and capacity development.
Primary Investigator, Case Studies on an Integral Approach to International Development, in 2005-2006, in El Salvador, Ethiopia, and Peru, funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), examining the integration of the interior dimensions of social change in innovative praxis, globally.
Key skills:
- Comprehensive approach to problem-solving skills on complex issues
- Qualitative social science research skills
- Qualitative data analysis
- Excellent writing and research dissemination
- Partnership-based approach with strong skills in multi-sector collaboration