Leading researcher in political ecology awarded prestigious £1.3 million funding

Dr Jessica Hope, Lecturer in Sustainable Development in the School of Geography & Sustainable Development has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant worth £1.3 million for her research in political ecology.

Dr Hope’s award is for Roads2SUSTAINABILITY, a five-year research project investigating new commitments to road building in the Western Amazon and the alternatives. Research will take place across three sites crucial for responses to climate change and sustainability: indigenous territories, conservation areas, and cities.

Awarded to scientists and scholars across Europe at the beginning of their careers,  European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants support the pursuit of cutting-edge across a wide range of academic disciplines. From 1039 proposals in the social sciences, just 139 projects were selected for funding this year.

European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants are awarded to scientists and scholars at the beginning of their careers,  and support the pursuit of cutting-edge research in a wide range of academic disciplines across Europe. From 1039 proposals in the social sciences, just 139 projects were selected for funding this year.

Dr Hope’s project will carry out a careful approach to data collection and have an Indigenous Advisory Board, Academic Advisory board and employ 16 Indigenous researchers and 2 post-doctoral researchers. Together, the team will develop infrastructural political ecology, combining contemporary treatments of infrastructure with theories of more-than-human assemblage and multi-species justice.

“I am very excited to start this project”, said Dr Hope, “and very grateful to my wonderful colleagues in the School of Geography & Sustainable Development, in our Geographies of Sustainability, Society, Inequalities and Possibilities Group GOSSIP research group and in the global Pollen Political Ecology Network for the feedback and encouragement with my application.”

Professor Nissa Finney, Director of Research in the School of Geography and Sustainable Development, said: “Roads2Sustainability will bring important new understandings of infrastructure change and we’re excited about the focus on how to undertake careful social science. Dr Hope’s team will be a fantastic expansion to the School’s expertise in Geography, Sustainability and Development.”

“It is great to see Dr Hope being awarded an ERC Starting Grant”, added Professor Tom Brown (Vice-Principal for Research, Collections and Innovation). “Her research is vital to developing a deeper understanding of political ecology and informing global infrastructure change.  The Roads2SUSTAINABILITY project is reflective of our commitment to support a sustainable future through world-leading research.”

Announcing this year’s 494 Starting Grants – a total investment of nearly €780 million in early career research across Europe – President of the European Research Council, Professor Maria Leptin, said:

“Empowering researchers early on in their careers is at the heart of the mission of the ERC. I am particularly pleased to welcome UK researchers back to the ERC. They have been sorely missed over the past years. With fifty grants awarded to researchers based in the UK, this influx is good for the research community overall.”