Ariadne Collins

Ariadne Collins is a Lecturer in the School of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews, specializing in climate change governance, environmental policy, and post-colonial development. Her research critically examines the intersections of market-based conservation frameworks and colonial histories in the Global South, particularly in the Amazonian Guiana Shield region. She holds a PhD (Summa cum laude) from Central European University, a Master’s from the University of Westminster, and a Bachelor’s from the University of Guyana. Prior roles include Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry in Berlin and visiting researcher at Wageningen University.

Key research areas include decolonizing environmental governance through analyses of REDD+ policies, political ecology of volumetric space, and the sociohistorical impacts of colonial land use patterns. Her 2024 book Forests of Refuge critiques REDD+ implementation in Guyana and Suriname, arguing for decolonial approaches to climate policy. Current projects explore volumetric environmental governance and the political ecology of three-dimensional spatial frameworks in international relations.

Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to climate action, sustainable cities, and responsible consumption. Awards include recognition for academic excellence in her PhD and Master’s programs. She actively participates in global academic networks, organizing events like the RGS-IBG Annual Conference session on volumetric spatial politics.