Nathalie Richards is a Swiss-British-American citizen, having grown up mostly in the French part of Switzerland but having also lived in Germany, the USA, the UK, and Mexico. Nathalie holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Geneva and an MA from King’s College London. She has professional experience in the global health consultancy sector from PricewaterhouseCoopers in Geneva and public sector experience gained while working at the Swiss Embassy in Mexico City. In England, Nathalie has worked for environmental NGOs including Blue Ventures.
Through a ESRC-supported CASE studentship, Nathalie partners with WWF-UK for her doctoral work exploring Water Users Associations in Tanzania and Kenya. Nathalie’s research investigates the impact that Water Users Associations have on rivers and communities. She will be using interdisciplinary methods to understand the climate and land use patterns over the past 10 years of subcatchments in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania and the Maasai Mara in Kenya in order to assess the extent to which water usage has changed. Additionally, she will collect perceptions from water users association members to understand their role and the interest farmers have in these institutions. An institutional analysis will evaluate water users associations’ interactions with other formal and informal institutions regulating water use.
Nathalie chose the Department of Geography at King’s College London for its unmatched expertise in the water sector, which is notably connected to the context of developing countries and East Africa. Located in the centre of London, King’s Water offers excellent opportunities for partnering and sharing with other leading institutions from all sectors.
Nathalie is supervised by Frances Cleaver, former Head of King’s Water, who is now based at the University of Sheffield. At King’s, Nathalie is supported by Professor Nicholas Clifford, the Acting Director of the School of Global Affairs.
Around the Department of Geography, Nathalie is known for her outspokenness regarding the (lack of) divide between physical and human geography. A strong advocate of interdisciplinary approaches and the nuanced potential of science, Nathalie advocates for stronger collaboration across the discipline.
Nathalie’s three water words:
Mosquitoes
Thirsty
Beach
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