My work involves collaborative research and teaching in Madagascar’s northernmost province of Antsiranana. Recent topics of research include: artisanal mining; ecotourism; small-scale NGOs; humanitarianism; community-based conservation; local responses to climate change; and the region’s emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic. Much of this work has involved ongoing work with colleagues and students at the University of Antsiranana. Read more about this work here.

From 2026 to 2031 I will be leading an international collaborative research project concerning conventional “awareness raising” and its alternatives in northern Madagascar, focussing especially on awareness raising around climate change and HIV/AIDS. The project aims to:

• Develop critical and interdisciplinary ethnographic accounts of the planning, contextual mediation, and reception of conventional awareness raising projects concerning HIV/AIDS and climate change in five northern Malagasy communities.
• Act on research findings (in collaboration with expert Malagasy and international collaborators and experienced research assistants) by working with community partners to produce alternative means of raising awareness about critical issues in the region through the co-design of programming that effectively communicates local knowledge, perspectives, and priorities concerning the threats posed by HIV/AIDS and climate change.
• Offer experiential learning and research training to Canadian and Malagasy students and emerging scholars, preparing them for futures in critical social sciences, community-based research, public health, climate change mitigation, and other domains.