Team
Dr. Craig Johnson, PhD
Principal Investigator
Craig Johnson is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Guelph. He holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. His research interests lie in the field of global environmental politics. Previous work has focused on city climate politics, rural-urban resource conflicts in South and Southeast Asia, and Indigenous, extractive and environmental politics in Ecuador.
Dr. Teresa Kramarz, PhD
Co-Investigator
Teresa Kramarz is a Professor at the School of the Environment and Co-Director at the Environmental Governance Lab at the University of Toronto. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Her research interests lie primarily with international organizations and global governance, placing particular emphasis on environmental politics.
Dr. Donald Kingsbury, PhD
Co-Investigator
Donald Kingsbury is an Assistant Professor of Latin American Politics, Extractivism and Political Ecology at the University of Toronto. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz. His research interests lie in the field of Latin American politics, with a focus on extractivism and decarbonization.
Collaborator
Javiera Barandiarán is an Associate Professor of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests focus on environmental politics through the lens of development, state institutions, science and experts.
Dr. Susan Park, Ph.D
Collaborator
Susan Park is a Professor of Global Governance at the University of Sydney. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney. Her research interests include global environmental politics, international relations and international organizations.
Macarena Urrets-Zavalia
Graduate Research Assistant
Macarena Urrets-Zavalia completed her MA in Political Science and International Development Studies at the University of Guelph in 2023. Her dissertation explored the reporting and accountability mechanisms of lithium extraction companies in Argentina.
Amalie Wilkinson
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Amalie Wilkinson is an undergraduate student of International Relations and Peace, Conflict & Justice Studies at the University of Toronto. She works on the dynamics of lithium extraction primarily in Canada, as an emerging jurisdiction. She is a recipient of the Climate Positive Energy Summer Undergraduate Research Program award.
Muhammad Sikandar Ali Chaudary
Doctoral researcher
Muhammad Sikandar Ali Chaudary is a Ph.D. scholar at the University of Sydney in Australia. His research explores the “dark side” of the transition towards a low-carbon energy future, particularly examining the political and socio-ecological implications of lithium extraction in Western Australia. Sikandar holds an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Northwestern University in the United States and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.
Contact: mras0352@uni.sydney.edu.au
Manuel Olivera Andrade
Doctoral researcher
Manuel Olivera Andrade is researcher and professor in the Postgraduate Program in Development Sciences (CIDES) at the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA) in La Paz, Bolivia. He holds a Master’s degree in Economic Development with undergraduate preparation in biology and economics, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Policy, Society and Culture. Focusing primarily in southwest Potosí, his research brings an interdisciplinary lens to the study of territorialities, socio-environmental imaginaries, and governance challenges in the lithium sector, including extensive field experience in territorial planning, project monitoring/evaluation and public policies. His MA thesis on lithium governance in Bolivia was awarded the UNESCO/Juan Bosch Prize in 2015.
Contact:
E-mails: manu.olivera@gmail.com; manuel.olivera@cides.edu.bo
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Manuel-Olivera-Andrade
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuel-olivera-andrade-36651626
Nushy Golriz
Doctoral Researcher
Nushy Golriz is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles under the co-advisorship of Dr. Helga Leitner and Dr. Shaina Potts. Her dissertation research examines Chile’s shifting legal institutional landscape of environmental governance since 2010 and how this is reconfiguring who participates and benefits within the restructuring of lithium governance in Chile. She also seeks to develop mixed-methods legal geographies through analyzing the politics of scientific knowledge production within lithium court cases and implementing critical remote sensing to triangulate this evidence.
Contact: mgolriz@ucla.edu
Miriam Shaftoe
Graduate Researcher
Miriam Shaftoe is a Master’s candidate in the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. Her research is investigating the politics of lithium extractivism and Indigenous consent in Argentina and Quebec.
Faris Mecklai
Graduate Researcher
Faris Mecklai is a Master’s candidate in the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. His research is investigating the informal mechanisms being used to influence public and corporate decision making on lithium mining in Argentina.
