Pamela Richardson

Dr. Pamela Richardson is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at the University of Sheffield's School of Geography and Planning, where she has been based since 2020. Her research integrates transdisciplinary scholarship with community-led action, focusing on sustainable food system transformations through participatory methodologies.

Her educational background includes:

• Doctorate in Geography from the University of Oxford (2009), supervised by Sarah Whatmore and Colin Clarke
• Geography studies at the Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford

Richardson identifies as a feminist political ecologist and critical geographer, with core interests in food geographies, diverse economies, and community-based sustainability initiatives. Her work uniquely bridges feminist theory, political ecology, and participatory action research, emphasizing more-than-human relations and ethical knowledge co-creation in contexts of justice and sustainability. She pioneers participatory video methods to empower communities in documenting their food sovereignty journeys.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals a clear evolution from Caribbean sugar economy studies (2010-2014) toward contemporary work on multi-scalar sustainable food systems (2018-2024), with increasing focus on Zimbabwe-UK comparative frameworks, generative change processes, and participatory video as research methodology. Her scholarship consistently intersects political ecology, feminist theory, and community engagement across Global North and South contexts.

Key recognitions include:

• Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (2021-2026)
• Andrew Mellon Fellowship at University of KwaZulu-Natal (2010-2011)
• Antipode Scholar-Activist award for participatory video work

Richardson actively translates research into practice through significant grants including her current ESRC IAA-funded "Make it grow" project supporting community food initiatives, and has co-supervised MSc/PhD students at DITSL Germany. Her professional engagements span UNDP, IDS, and multiple African development organizations, reflecting her commitment to cross-sector knowledge exchange and practical sustainability transformations.

She currently leads the "Co-creating multi-scalar generative change" project investigating sustainable food systems through Zimbabwean and UK community partnerships, working closely with the University's Institute for Sustainable Food and international donor agencies to integrate participatory video into funding processes.