Meena Singh |
Meena Singh
Clare Hall Tel: 01223 479089 Email: mvs20@cam.ac.uk |
Meena’s work has been cross-disciplinary drawing on physical processes operating on the natural environment, and understanding human societies dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods. Her Ph.D. examined soil erosion in Lesotho, spanning geological, historical and contemporary processes, and employed techniques ranging from sedimentology analysis and radio carbon dating to oral history, GIS and indigenous conservation. During her post-doctoral fellowship at the Centre for History and Economics and Clare Hall, she co-organised the Centre’s seminar series on ‘Documenting Environmental Change’ and brought together scholars in diverse disciplines from both the social and natural sciences. Her post-doctoral research focused on environmental security and she organised a workshop soon after the first democratic elections in South Africa on redefining security in the region. The workshop covered diverse areas of security including environmental security, resource conflicts, human rights, and regional security. Participants included politicians, academics and members of NGOs. Meena has been involved in the drafting of the green paper for environmental policy in South Africa. She worked at the Stockholm Environment Institute and later at the Land and Agriculture Policy Centre (Johannesburg) during the transition to democracy and participated in a study of Natural Resource Management which contributed to policy options for land reform.
More recently, Meena worked at the Global Invasive Species Programme, where the effects of invasive species on livelihoods were examined. She continues to work as a consultant for a number of environmental NGOs, and has experience of working with local communities in southern Africa on a wide range of issues from conservation and environmental education to climate change adaptation strategies. Meena currently supervises students at King’s College, as well as working as a consultant for the European Union. She is a volunteer assistant of the Canon Collins Trust for Southern Africa (Phelophepa Train project). She is a member of the Advisory Board of the African Journal on Conflict Management.
Some Publications
Environmental Security, in “Redefining Security in Southern Africa”, Centre for History and Economics, 1995.
Environmental Security and Displaced People in Southern Africa, Social Justice, 23 (4), 1996.
Environmental Conflicts and Early Warning, Conflict Prevention and Early Warning, OAU publication, 1996
Basutoland: Historical Journey into the Environment, Centre for History and Economics, 1997.
Documenting Environmental Change Warde, P. and M. Singh, Centre for History and Economics, 1999.
Environmental (In)Security: Loss of Indigenous knowledge and environmental degradation in Africa, Environmental Security in southern Africa, (eds.) Tevera, D. and S. Moyo, 2000.