Charis Enns

Charis Enns is a Senior Lecturer in Socio-Environmental Systems at the Global Development Institute, University of Manchester. She is also a Presidential Fellow and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Institute. Her research focuses on socio-environmental systems, examining how environmental, land-use, and livelihood changes reshape human-animal interactions. Key projects include pathways for inclusive biodiversity conservation, community-engaged zoonosis research, and historical land rights injustices.

Her work intersects critical development studies, human geography, environmental studies, and political ecology. She advocates for politically engaged research rooted in scholar-activism principles. Notable outputs include her book Settler Ecologies: The Enduring Nature of Settler Colonialism in Kenya (2024), available open access. She leads initiatives like Inclusive and Prosperous Futures under Sustainable Futures at Manchester and co-convenes the Human-Animal Research Network.

Enns has been awarded the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017) and contributes to global debates on development corridors, infrastructure coloniality, and conservation ethics. Her research spans Eastern Africa, focusing on Kenya and Zambia, addressing infrastructure projects’ socio-ecological impacts and land rights struggles. She collaborates on projects like Transport & Mobility (2020–present), analyzing urban transport systems’ equity implications.

Her publications emphasize interdisciplinary approaches to environmental justice, infrastructure violence, and pandemic prevention. Media engagements include expert commentary on infrastructure ethics and wildlife trade policy. Enns mentors postdoctoral researchers and PhD students exploring human-animal dynamics in contexts of rapid environmental and urban change.