Natasha L. Cornea

Dr. Natasha L. Cornea is an Associate Professor in Human Geography at the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham, where she has served since February 2018 and was promoted in 2022. Her research examines urban environmental governance and politics in Indian and Zambian cities through urban political ecology and everyday state frameworks.

Her academic qualifications include:

• PhD in Geography from the University of Lausanne (2016)
• MA in Social Development from the University of Sussex (2011)
• BA (Hons) in International Studies with Economics minor from the University of Regina (2010)

Cornea's work centers on the intersections of urban and development geographies, emphasizing everyday practices in South Asian urban contexts. She employs post-structuralist approaches to analyze how governance operates in the 'actually-existing city,' particularly regarding waste management, water systems, and socio-nature production in Global South cities.

Her publication trends (2016-2024) reveal consistent focus on urban political ecology in the Global South, with increasing interdisciplinary collaboration evident in plastics research and sustainable urban futures. Key recurring themes include municipal capacity in small cities, state performance in informal settlements, and infrastructure politics through postcolonial lenses.

Cornea received Swiss National Science Foundation funding for her pre-Birmingham fellowship at University College London and actively contributes to postgraduate teaching, including Geopolitics and Globalisation (Module 406) and Berlin fieldwork. She supervises graduate research in human geography though no specific students are listed.

She co-leads the Birmingham Plastics Network (40+ interdisciplinary researchers) addressing plastic sustainability and is affiliated with the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS), focusing on urban environmental challenges in Global South contexts.