Dr Mark A Hirons

Biography

Dr. Mark A Hirons is currently working as a Research Fellow in the Department of School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading , United Kingdom. Research Interests • The political and cultural economy of natural resource governance and development, particularly with respect to forest management in agricultural and mining contexts • Climate change, forestry, land-use change governance and linkages with poverty • Agro-forestry landscapes and their interactions with human well-being, especially coffee and cocoa • Land-use conflicts associated with environmental and social impacts of small- and large-scale mining • Contemporary donor-led sustainable development interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa Research Projects • ESPA ECOLIMITS: Exploring the ecosystem limits to poverty alleviation in African forest-agriculture landscapes. This interdisciplinary project will be investigating the linkages between ecosystem service provision and the multiple dimensions of poverty in coffee- and cocoa-dominated agricultural settings, focusing on Ethiopia and Ghana respectively. The project will use a range of methods to develop a holistic understanding of how ecosystems influence, and are influenced by, socio-economic, political and cultural conditions across various scales. This understanding will feed into the identification of poverty alleviation strategies which account for the complexity of ecosystems and the lives they support. 2013 - date Postdoctoral Research Fellow – ESPA ECOLIMITS PROJECT. University of Reading and University of Oxford 2010 - 2014 PhD International Development and Rural Livelihoods - University of Reading. Thesis title: Mining, Forests and Land-use Conflict: The Case of Ghana 2010 MSc Environment and Development - University of Reading 2008 Environmental Science - University of East Anglia

Research Interest

The political and cultural economy of natural resource governance and development, particularly with respect to forest management in agricultural and mining contexts Climate change, forestry, land-use change governance and linkages with poverty Agro-forestry landscapes and their interactions with human well-being, especially coffee and cocoa Land-use conflicts associated with environmental and social impacts of small- and large-scale mining Contemporary donor-led sustainable development interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa