Joana Roque de Pinho

Joana investigates changing African social-ecological systems and local experiences and understandings thereof among natural resource-reliant communities. Past research looked at changing wildlife-human relationships amongst Kenyan pastoralists and implications for conservation; and environmentalist discourse, conservation policies, and conflicts for access to resources in a Bissau-Guinean national park. To explore local knowledge of climatic changes, she has engaged Kenyan pastoralists and Bissau-Guinean farmers as research collaborators through participatory visual research. Locally created outputs include international participatory photo exhibits and an award-winning documentary. Current projects focus on African, Asian, and American drylands, exploring linked religious and environmental changes; and local responses to Covid-19.