Lisa Ficklin

MSc International Development, Thesis entitled ‘Beyond Relief: The Potential for Development within Complex Political Emergencies’, The University of Bath, (2001-2002).

BSC (Hons) Biological Sciences with Environmental Resource Management, The University of Warwick (1998-2001).

The Political Ecology of Environmental Crisis: Neoliberalising Nature and Political Identity in Nicaragua. Expected completion June 2012.

Supervisors: Professor Noel Castree and Rosaleen Duffy.

Environmental Crises, environmental conflicts, social constructions of nature, environmental identities, rural livelihoods and agrarian change, political ecology, qualitative research and research epistemologies.

My research is situated in the intersection of environmental and political geography. It brings together theoretical and policy questions of environmental change and socio-environmental justice in the global south through an empirically rich analysis of the political ecologies of environmental crises. My doctoral thesis examines how remote rural communities experience hazards and extreme environmental change. This includes issues of increased vulnerability from past agrarian change, livelihood strategies and access to resources at the village level in rural Nicaragua. More specifically it explores how a hegemonic understanding of neoliberal governance within conceptualisations of ‘disaster capitalism’ underestimates the relevance and role of local level politics and identities when understanding how communities in the global south experience environmental crisis. My research is interdisciplinary and draws on literatures in geography, politics, anthropology and development studies and on primary research- ethnographic methods and document analysis- to develop a rich and theoretically informed account of political, economic and social stratification in rural Nicaragua following Hurricane Felix in 2007.

Publications:

Jones, B. and Ficklin, L. (2010), ‘To Walk in Their Shoes: Recognising the Expression of
Empathy as a Research Reality’, Emotion, Space and Society, in press DOI, awaiting
publication in print.

Ficklin, L. and Jones, B., (2009), Deciphering ‘Voice’ from ‘Words’: Interpreting Translation
Practices in the Field, Graduate Journal of Social Science, Special Edition ‘Lost (and Found)
in Translation’ Vol.6 (3) pp. 108-130.

Ficklin, L., (2008), Review of ‘Butcher, J. (2007), Ecotourism, NGOs and development: a
critical analysis’, Progress in Human Geography, Vol. 32, pp. 584-586.

Fieldwork Experience:

Ghana: Research methods consultant May 2010.
Ten day project to advise NGO staff on the implementation of qualitative research methods
including seminars on methodological techniques, issues of translation and ethical research.

Nicaragua: PhD research September 2007 –June 2008.
Ten months of qualitative research in the capital Managua and the remote northern highlands
of the Jinotega district using ethnographic methods, elite interviewing and document analysis.

Professional membership and competitive awards:

PhD Full Funding Award: Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Manchester,
UK, April 2006 – September 2010 (part-time).

Member of the Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS), September 2006-present.

Brooks World Poverty Institute (BWPI) Summer School Award, University of
Manchester, June - July 2009.
Awarded one of three University of Manchester places at the intensive BWPI Summer School.

Postgraduate Steering Committee Member: Society and Environment Research Group
(SERG), University of Manchester, UK, September 2006 - August 2007.

Conference presentations:

Invited speaker: ‘Deciphering ‘Voice’ from ‘Words’: Interpreting Translation Practices in the
Field’, Workshop to be held in October 2011, University of Manchester.

‘Why I use Ethnographic Interviews to Research the Political Ecology of Disaster Capitalism
in Nicaragua’ presentation to be held in October 2011 at Methods@Manchester Methods Fair,
University of Manchester.

‘The Political Ecology of Environmental Crisis: Neoliberalising Nature and Political Identity
in Nicaragua’, presented in session ‘Crises and Environmental Governance: Exploring the
Connections’, organised and chaired, RGS/IBG Conference, August 2009, University of
Manchester.

‘The Political Ecology of Hurricane Felix: Nature, Identity and Crises in Nicaragua’, presented
at the BWPI Summer School Conference, July 2009, University of Manchester.

‘Collective Identities in the Transnational Mobilisation of Local Environmentalisms: The Case
of Nicaragua and Costa Rica’, presented at the Society and Environment Research Group
(SERG) Conference, 19th June 2007, University of Manchester.

Languages:

English - Mother tongue, Spanish - Highly Competent, French - Conversational.