Melissa Leach
British geographer and social anthropologist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Melissa Leach, CBE, FBA (born 5 January 1965) is a British geographer and social anthropologist. She has been the Executive Director of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative since June 2024.[1] She studies sustainability and development concerns in policy-making and has a focus on the politics of science and technology of Africa. She was previously the Director of the Institute of Development Studies (2014-2024) located on the University of Sussex campus.
Born5 January 1965[citation needed]
AlmamaterSchool of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
Newnham College, University of Cambridge, UK
Newnham College, University of Cambridge, UK
ChildrenFour
Parent(s)Penelope Jane Leach; Gerald Leach
Melissa Leach | |
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| Born | 5 January 1965[citation needed] |
| Alma mater | School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London Newnham College, University of Cambridge, UK |
| Children | Four |
| Parent(s) | Penelope Jane Leach; Gerald Leach |
Education
She earned her BA in geography with starred first honours at the University of Cambridge, and her MPhil and PhD in social anthropology from the SOAS University of London.[2] Leach co-founded and directed the ESRC STEPS (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Centre from 2006 to 2014.[3]
Awards and honours
- 1998: Amaury Talbot Prize of the Royal Anthropological Institute, for best book in African Anthropology, for 'Misreading the African Landscape'.[4]
- 2012: European Association for the Study of Science and Technology Ziman Prize for public engagement with science, for STEPS Centre 'New Manifesto' initiative.
- 2016: ESRC Outstanding International Impact Award for Ebola Response Anthropology Platform (ERAP).[5]
- 2017: Leach was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to the social sciences.[6]
- 2017: In July 2017, she was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.[7]
Membership and professional activities
- Vice-Chair of the Science Committee of Future Earth, steering development of agenda around planetary futures, sustainability and post-2015 development.[8]
- Member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food).[9]
- Lead author of the UN Women 2014 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development on gender equality and sustainable development.[10]
- Co-Leader, ISSC World Social Science Report 2016 on Inequalities and Social justice.[11]
- Trustee, Malaria Consortium
- Advisory Board member, ESRC ‘Nexus Network: New connections in food, energy, water and the environment’.[12]
- UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) Ebola, 2014 – 15.[13]
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Stockholm Environment Institute.[14]
Selected publications
- Leach, M. and Scoones, I. eds., 2015. Carbon conflicts and forest landscapes in Africa. Routledge.
- Leach, M., 2015. "The Ebola Crisis and Post‐2015 Development". Journal of International Development, 27(6), pp. 816–834.
- Leach, M., Raworth, K. and Rockström, J., 2013. "Between social and planetary boundaries: Navigating pathways in the safe and just space for humanity". World Social Science Report, 2013, pp. 84–89.
- Fairhead, J., Leach, M. and Scoones, I., 2012. "Green Grabbing: a new appropriation of nature?". Journal of Peasant Studies, 39(2), pp. 237–261.
- Leach, M., Scoones, I. and Wynne, B., 2005. Science and citizens: globalisation and the challenge of engagement (Vol. 2). Zed Books.
- Fairhead, J. and M. Leach, 1996, Misreading the African landscape: society and ecology in a forest-Savanna mosaic. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Leach, M., Mearns, R. and Scoones, I., 1999. "Environmental entitlements: dynamics and institutions in community-based natural resource management". World Development, 27(2), pp. 225–247.
- Leach, M. and Mearns, R., 1996. Environmental change and policy. The Lie of the Land: challenging received wisdom on the African environment. Oxford: James Currey, pp. 1–33.
- Leach, M. and R. Mearns, 1996, The Lie of the land: Challenging received wisdom on the African environment. Oxford: James Currey Publishers Ltd. and New York: Heinemann
- Leach, M., 1994, Rainforest relations: Gender and resource use among the Mende of Gola, Sierra Leone. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press and Washington: Smithsonian Institution