Research Interests
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My current research is based around the human dimensions of local and global environmental change; and, natural resource management (water, ecosystems, and wildlife) and policy in Southern Africa.
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Current research
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My current research falls into four areas within the overarching themes of development, community and resource management within southern Africa. Ongoing research projects include:
Adaptation to environmental and climatic variability amongst natural-resource dependent populations
This research stream investigates how natural resource-dependant societies in the developing world, particularly southern Africa, respond and adapt to climatic variability and shocks such as drought and floods, and how these responses may better inform an understanding of likely 21st century responses to global warming-induced climate change.
More information on my Adaptation to Environmental and Climatic Variability research
Community-based natural resource management in Southern Africa
Research in this area investigates the concept and practice of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM).
More information on my Community-Based Natural Resource Management research
Policy, poverty and livelihoods in Southern Africa
Research in this area focuses on the complex interactions between policy poverty and livelihoods.
More information on my Policy, Poverty and Livelihoods in Southern Africa research
Power, environment and identities: learning from the South
An ongoing and expanding interest in power relationships and the cross-cultural research process has been developed through investigations into issues of power and discourse in North and South interactions in terms of development concepts and practices, technology, tourism, and the 'representation' of indigenous people.
More information on my Power, Environment and Identities research
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Teaching
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Chasca's teaching interests revolve around international development and the human dimensions of global environmental change, thus aligning with her main research interests and skills.
Undergraduate Teaching
At the undergraduate level, she is keen to help students understand how theory can be a useful tool to help challenge development assumptions and reflect on our personal and political relationships with different people and places. These relationships are often explored through quite detailed empirical case studies and students are encouraged to reflect critically on the written and visual media presented.
Chasca's specialist teaching on undergraduate courses includes:
GEO221 Geographies of Development
GEO336 Development and Global Change
All staff also engage in personal supervision and tutoring of individual students at all three levels in the following modules:
GEO163 (Information & Communication Skills for Geographers)
GEO263 or GEO264 (Research Design in Human or Physical Geography)
GEO356 (Geographical Research Project)
Masters Teaching
At Masters level, her teaching draws directly on her research interests in interdisciplinary approaches to the human dimensions of global environmental change. Students are encouraged to think critically about how disciplinary perspectives can shape how development problems are approached and are encouraged to reflect analytically on how complex and real the outcomes of social and environmental change can be for those in the Global South.
Chasca's teaching on Masters courses includes:
GEO6801 Ideas and Practice in International Development
GEO6803 Professional Skills for Development
GEO6806 Key Issues in Environment and Development
GEO6809 Living with Climate Change in the Global South
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Key Publications
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- Twyman, C., Fraser, E.D.G., Stringer, L.C., Quinn, C., Dougill, A.J., Ravera, F., Crane, T.A. and Sallu, S.M. (2011). Climate science, development practice, and policy interactions in dryland agroecological systems. Ecology and Society, 16(3), 14.
doi:10.5751/ES-04261-160314
- Sallu, S.M., Twyman, C. and Stringer, L.C. (2010). Resilient or vulnerable livelihoods? Assessing livelihood dynamics and trajectories in rural Botswana. Ecology and Society, 15(4), 3.
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss4/art3/
- Osbahr, H., Twyman, C., Adger, W.N. and Thomas D.S.G. (2010). Evaluating successful livelihood adaptation to climate variability and change in southern Africa. Ecology and Society, 15(2), 27.
http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol15/iss2/art27/
- Pasquini, L., Cowling, R.M., Twyman, C. and Wainwright, J. (2010). Devising appropriate policies and instruments in support of private conservation areas: lessons learnt from the Klein Karoo, South Africa. Conservation Biology, 24(2), 470-478.
doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01344.x
- Osbahr, H., Twyman, C., Adger, W.N. and Thomas D.S.G. (2008). Effective livelihood adaptation to climate change disturbance: scale dimensions of practice in Mozambique. Geoforum, 39(6), 1951-1964.
doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2008.07.010
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