Meet our 2025 EARTH Scholars

10 circular photos of the Incoming EARTH Scholars on a blue banner

The British Council Scotland SGSAH EARTH Scholarships is a programme run by SGSAH with funding from the British Council to enable international research collaborations between PhD and Early Career Researchers and Scottish HEIs and Scotland-based academic mentors, and external organisations, thematically focused on environmental arts and humanities and their interdisciplinary connections. Our ten successful applicants based outside the UK will come to Scotland to undertake in-person and hybrid exchanges for up to 3 months in Spring 2025. During a 10-day cohort programme in April, they will be joined by a group of 10 Scotland-based scholars.

Meet the recipients of EARTH Scholarships 2025 and our Scotland-based scholars below. Click the '+' to find out more.

 

MEET OUR INCOMING EARTH SCHOLARS 2025

David Ogoru | University of Strathclyde

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David (he/him) is a second-year PhD student in the history department at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. David's research interests primarily revolve around the environmental history of Nigeria and West Africa. He is interested in multispecies collaboration and the place of colonialism, science, and aquatic environments in the history of West Africa.


Thinking with Water: Towards A New Environmental History of Nigeria

In diverging from the historiography on the environmental history of Nigeria, which is dominated by resource extraction histories, during the Earth Scholarship program, David will be working on a history of coastal Nigeria that focuses on the source - water rather than resources extracted. Through this reorientation of how one could write an environmental history of Nigeria, David seeks to make not just a historiographical intervention but a methodological one as well. This standalone project will inform David’s work as he progresses into the substantive research phase of his doctoral programme at Brown University. David will be mentored by the historian of colonialism and marine environments, David Wilson, at the University of Strathclyde.

Leena S Naqvi | Edinburgh Napier University

Student smiling by window

Leena Naqvi (she/her) is a doctoral researcher at Umeå Institute of Design, Sweden. She investigates how embodied food practices can inspire playful, critical design approaches to understand environmental entanglements and reimagine multispecies participation in shaping more sustainable futures.

Airmailing Cultures

During the EARTH Scholarship, Leena Naqvi will explore how the practice of yoghurt-making can inform relational and ecologically oriented design frameworks. Her project, "Airmailing Cultures", connects anthropological inquiry with design practice to reimagine multispecies ways of collaborating, and flourishing in a post-progress world. She will be hosted by Edinburgh Napier University under the mentorship of Dr. Arunima Bhattacharya.

Betlem Pallardó | University of Strathclyde

Student standing in forest

Betlem Pallardó (she/they) is a Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Spanish at Universitat de València, supported by the Spanish FPU (University Professor Training) grant. Her PhD project critically examines literary representations of spaces of systemic violence against animals within the Spanish contemporary context.

Literary Animals in Museums

During the EARTH Scholarship, Betlem will undertake a three-month research stay at the University of Strathclyde, where she will work under the mentorship of Dr Charles Pigott. Her research will focus on literary depictions of animal exhibitions in museums in two Spanish novels: El caçador ari (2020), by Octavi Franch, and La sirena perdida (2022), by Victoria Álvarez. Her research employs an interdisciplinary framework to reveal how literature exposes intersections of speciesism, colonialism, and patriarchy within museum spaces, engaging with broader themes of environmental and social justice.

Marta Kucza | Robert Gordon University

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Marta Kucza (she/her) is a documentary filmmaker. In her current PhD research at the Department of Semiotics, University of Tartu, she is exploring embodied learning about plants and animals from an interdisciplinary perspective combining ecosemiotics, ethnography and art-based methods. She designs situated research setups consisting of experimental film and sound workshops.

Neurodivergent modes of enquiry for the study of more-than-human ecosystems

The aim of her research placement at Robert Gordon University is to further her ongoing PhD research, which addresses transversally two important problems, so far considered unrelated: the climate crisis and exclusion of people labelled as having learning disabilities from knowledge production. Through shared experimental film and sound practices with the residents of Maarja küla, a supported living facility for neurodivergent adults located in South Estonia, she is exploring the potential of neurodivergent modes of enquiry for the study of more-than-human ecosystems. During her fellowship she will be mentored by Dr Jen Clarke from the Gray’s School of Art.

Leyla Craig | University of Edinburgh

Student by canyon with river

For the past decade, Leyla Craig (she/her) has focussed on disaster risk reduction (DRR) for marginalised groups, especially Deaf communities. Her research study at The University of Sydney explores organisational support for deaf people affected by disasters. She serves as a Disability Inclusion and Engagement Officer for Fire and Rescue NSW.

Effective Climate Change Communication Strategies for Deaf Signers

Leyla Craig’s studies at The University of Sydney focus on mobilising disaster information for Deaf people in Australia. She plans to visit The University of Edinburgh under the mentorship of Dr Gabrielle Hodge to learn effective science communication and educational pedagogies from the award-winning British Sign Language (BSL) Science team and Scottish Deaf communities. Leyla will share her expertise in climate change disaster risk reduction, assisting the BSL Science Project team in expanding their glossary to include climate change concepts. This collaboration aims to develop pedagogies that foster engagement in climate justice amongst Deaf Australian signers in their own language.

Janet Sit | Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

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Janet Sit (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the University of California San Diego Music Department. Her cross-disciplinary research explores decentering terrestrial references to underwater/near-water perceptions and histories within ocean humanities frameworks and her scuba diving experiences. Her artistic practices include acoustic/electronic compositions, sound installations and scholarly writing.

Ties and Tides of Kinship: Speculative World-Making in Scotland’s Multispecies Waters

The project investigates human-multispecies encounters in Scotland’s marine ecosystems, guided by Dr. Emily Doolittle (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Dr. Luke Rendell (St. Andrews), with support from SHARE (Science, Humanities, and Arts Research Exchange). Combining cold-water diving, field recordings, archival research, and interdisciplinary collaboration, the project results include a participatory sound installation and online educational resources. Weaving marine ecologies, ocean humanities, and sound art, this project aims to nurture speculative world-making and play-making, inviting diverse audiences to imagine and engage with waterscapes in co-creative, co-imaginative explorations.

Thainan Rocha | University of Glasgow

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Thainan Rocha (he/they) is a Brazilian artist and double PhD candidate in Management and Performing Arts at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Passionate about sustainability and innovation, his work bridges culture and climate action, fostering resilience and transformative development within the creative industries.

Cultural Resilience: Sustainable Models Through Participatory Technologies

Thainan’s home state of Rio Grande do Sul was devastated by severe floods in 2024. During the EARTH Scholarship exchange, Thainan will be based at the University of Glasgow, supervised by Professor Mark Banks. The project focuses on how cultural organizations can take a leadership role in climate adaptation. Drawing insights from both Brazilian and Scottish experiences, they will explore strategies for rebuilding cultural ecosystems and driving sustainable growth within the creative economy. Through stakeholder engagement and technological development, the project aims to foster resilience and position cultural organizations as key drivers of local sustainable development.

 

Zahra Tootonsab | University of Glasgow

Student smiling by snowy bushes

Zahra Tootonsab (she/her), a Ph.D. candidate and poet, explores the relationship between sheltering and decolonial flourishing in so-called Canada and Iran. Her work examines how decolonial living can address the global climate crisis, with her poetics and sheltering ethics deeply inspired by the weaving traditions of the Bakhtiari people.

The “Digital Shelter”: Creative Ethnoarchaeological Communication of Iran’s Nomadic Stories and Textile Crafts

Zahra Tootonsab is a PhD candidate at McMaster University, located in Ontario, Canada. Her research at the University of Glasgow, under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel Calderbank, will engage with the scientific analysis of textile artefacts of a nomadic tribe in Iran (the Bakhtiari) to learn how their culture and craft practices help them to adapt to droughts and vegetation decline. This project will integrate landscape heritage and scientific study of Bakhtiari textiles to develop collaborative avenues for resisting unsustainable systems/practices. A long-term online platform, the “Digital Shelter,” will be developed for continued creative and inclusive knowledge co-production.

Miriam Sentler | University of the Highlands & Islands

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Miriam Sentler (she/her) is a visual artist and doctoral researcher in Petroculture Studies at the University of Oslo (NO). During her Ph.D. within the interdisciplinary TOIL (Translatability of Oil) research group, she studies how Shetlanders utilize their creative culture to translate and oppose oil- and other energy production in the North Sea.

The Moving Energy Theatre

In collaboration with The University of Highlands and Islands (UHI) under the supervision of Dr Antonia Thomas, Miriam will start her interdisciplinary research project The Moving Energy Theatre (TMET) in the context of the Shetland Islands. During her 6-week stay at UHI she will conduct comparative background research in Orkney to map the broader context of creative performances about energy production happening in the northern isles of Scotland. Her project will link to UHI’s ongoing TRANSECTS project, researching community-owned archives in order to find creative ways of exploring the impact of marine energy transitions in North Sea island communities. 

Paro Tomar | University of St. Andrews

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Paro Tomar (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the Department of History, Shiv Nadar University, Delhi. Her PhD examines the transition of the Thar Desert from a 'connected space' in the eighteenth century, to a 'frontier' in the nineteenth, and a 'borderland' in the twentieth century, through the evolving nature of pastoral mobility.


Colonialism, Pastoralism and Climate Crisis in the Thar Desert – A Historical Overview

Paro's project for the EARTH Scholarship examines the ecological impacts of colonialism in the Thar Desert, tracing the roots of the climate crisis to historical marginalisation of pastoral groups. She will be conducting her research under Professor Bernhard Struck at the School of History, University of St. Andrews. 

Scotland-based EARTH Scholars 2025

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In April 2025, our international EARTH Scholarship recipients will come together alongside a group of 10 Scotland-based scholars. Together, they will network and collaborate during an intensive 2-week cohort-building core leadership programme held in various locations around Scotland. This will be supported by a set of thematically and geographically oriented Clusters. Click '+' below to find out more.

Meet our Scotland-based Scholars:

Anna Stacey (she/her) | Queen Margaret University | Visualising Nature Connection: Affective Attachments and Environmental Imaginaries of Scottish landscapes, species and relations

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Lewis Wood (he/him) | University of Edinburgh | Precarious queers and queer precarity: cross-cultural literary responses to AIDS from David Wojnarowicz to CAConrad
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Mattea Gernentz (she/her) | University of Glasgow | A Garden of One’s Own: The Effect of Nature on Flânerie and the Women Impressionists
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Mara Marxt Lewis (she/her) | University of Aberdeen | Everyday Belonging: Women Migrant Workers as Agents of Change in Scotland’s Coastal Communities
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Isobel Harvey (she/her) | University of Glasgow | A Cultural and Natural History of Scotland's Peatlands
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Leonie Charlton (she/her) | University of the Highlands & Islands | Of Trees, Deer, Humans, and the Spaces Between: Orientating towards the future by giving voice to the disparate groups and individuals involved in Scotland’s ‘deer question’ through creative practice research
Student smiling by snowy background
Alison Scott (she/they) | Robert Gordon University | Creative Approaches to Treescapes
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Ley Bergeron (she/her) | University of Edinburgh | Climate science communication and engagement with deaf signing people and communities
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Tafadzwa Makara (he/him) | University of Stirling | Landscapes of Contradictions: The Re-Territorialization and Dispossessive Development Futures in Zimbabwe’s Lithium Frontier

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Eilidh Guthrie (she/her) | University of Dundee | Water Issues and Wetlands and Woodlands: A Creative Practice-Led Investigation
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