Lorenzo is a PhD student at the University of St Andrews and the Centre for Energy Ethics. He holds a Master’s degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology from La Sapienza University of Rome, and has previously conducted ethnographic fieldwork in the Sierra Norte de...
Leyla’s two-year postdoctoral research project will explore the construction of ‘oil city’ narratives in Baku, Azerbaijan. The main research objectives are to examine the official and unofficial narratives of urban continuity based on oil production in their socio-cultural context; to explore the practices of collective remembering and forgetting in constructing the narratives of Baku as a historical center of oil production; and to explore how an urban identity based on oil affects the imagination of a post-oil future among these groups.
Sean’s three-year post-doctoral research project aims to study how energy analysts, financial specialists, traders, portfolio managers and investment professionals conceptualize and value oil.
Sarah’s four-year doctoral research focuses on the local realities of an energy transition in the UK in the context of climate change. More particularly, she is interested in the knowledge put forward by grassroots activists campaigning against unconventional gas extraction.
Pauline’s three-year postdoctoral research project looks at the value of oil and alternative renewable energy sources in Ghana, a country that positions itself as an energy frontier for rethinking the relationship between hydrocarbon dependency and more sustainable energy futures in a context of environmental crisis.
Dr High is currently directing a European Research Council funded project: The Ethics of Oil: Finance Moralities and Environmental Politics in the Global Oil Economy (ENERGY ETHICS). Based on multiple ethnographic studies in Europe and the US, this 5-year research project brings an anthropological sensitivity to issues of money, energy and climate change. Its ambition is to provide a novel framework for investigating how oil valuations relate to political reforms and new climate economic initiatives.
Anna’s PhD thesis examines how energy industry leaders and experts in Norway envision and shape energy trajectories. In an exploration of power structures (both in terms of energy and also in relation to control and authority), she aims to provide a better understanding of the complex web of interdependencies, responsibilities, and expectations that surround contemporary energy and climate concerns.