Author Biography
Professor Melissa Leach was a co-founder of the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Environment Group in 1990. With a background as an anthropologist and geographer, her interdisciplinary, policy-engaged research in West Africa and beyond in subsequent decades has linked environment, health, and social change, with particular interests in knowledge, power, and the politics of science and policy processes. In 2006 she co-founded and co-directed the ESRC STEPS (Economic and Social Research Council Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Centre and from 2014–24 was overall Director of IDS. She is now Executive Director of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) – a partnership between the university and ten organisations linking research with practical action for people and nature. She is also Professor in Social Anthropology, Cambridge and remains connected with IDS as an Emeritus Fellow.
