School of Geography
 

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Bethany Jackson

Nottingham Research Fellow, Faculty of Social Sciences

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Biography

I am a Nottingham Research Fellow (NRF) in the School of Geography (2024-2027) assessing the intersections between decent work and climate change in the UK food supply. My research builds upon several years of research which has focused on climate change, environmental degradation and working conditions - from decent work to the most extreme forms of exploitation such as forced labour.

I completed a BSc in Geography (2013-2016), and a PhD in Geography (funded by the Rights Lab, as part of the 'Data and Measurement Programme' supervised by Professors' Doreen Boyd and Kevin Bales) (2016-2020) both at the University of Nottingham.

My research has focused on multiple sector including brick kilns, fish-processing, and fishing, and geographies (such as India, Bangladesh, the United States). My NRF, entitled "decent work and climate change risks in the UK food supply" focuses on understanding the social, environmental, economic and political conditions that hinder the achievement of decent work in ther context of a changing climate. The focus is on the agricultural and processing (land-based) food supply in the UK context - centring the risks to workers and factors to improve conditions. This research builds upon a series of collaborative activities with colleagues at Tufts University (Boston MA, US) where we have assessed risks of forced labour on the US food supply; and expands these risks into a new geography and assesses environmental concerns.

Expertise Summary

Environmental Degradation, Climate Change, Decent Work, Forced Labour, Food Systems

Research Summary

My NRF, entitled "decent work and climate change risks in the UK food supply" focuses on understanding the social, environmental, economic and political conditions that hinder the achievement of… read more

Recent Publications

Current Research

My NRF, entitled "decent work and climate change risks in the UK food supply" focuses on understanding the social, environmental, economic and political conditions that hinder the achievement of decent work in ther context of a changing climate. The focus is on the agricultural and processing (land-based) food supply in the UK context - centering the risks to workers and factors to improve conditions. This research builds upon a series of collaborative activities with colleagues at Tufts University (Boston MA, US) where we have assessed risks of forced labour on the US food supply; and expands these risks into a new geography and assesses environmental concerns.

Past Research

My PhD focused on the intersection of modern slavery and environmental degradation on three sectors and three varying scales: fish-processing (local scale), brick kilns (regional scale), and tree loss/forestry (global scale). The thesis primarily assessed this impact via the application of remote sensing and was a case study example of the connections that can be made to investigate the impacts of modern slavery.

I have undertaken a series research projects throughout my post-doctoral roles, selected research includes:

  • Realigning climate change and modern slavery governance for positive action in the UK context. I led a project to provide recommendations to the UK Government around how to address climate change and modern slavery in an intersectional manner moving forward. This included undertaking a series of stakeholder interviews with national and devolved governance actors, as well as assessing the literature and reviewing policy in other contexts.
  • Assessing the brick kiln industry in India, including the development of a survey for kiln owners and workers to support understanding of working conditions in the Indian brick kiln industry. This built upon satellite imagery to map the kilns for the first time. We are now working to develop supply chain and working condition analyses, and a training module for civil society and government organisations to support improvements to working conditions in an industry facing poor working outcomes and being impacts by climate change.
  • Alongside in-country partners, I co-designed and coordinated one of the largest surveys of households in the Bangladesh and Indian Sundarbans which assessed the connections between migration, human trafficking and climate change risks for communities in the region. The findings were used by the partner organisations to design and implement a series of new programming to support communities facing dual risks in previously under-served risks (human trafficking and migration support).

I also have undertaken research on the ethical considerations for modern slavery research with colleagues at the University of Liverpool.

I have regularly worked with survivors of extreme forms of exploitation both as peer-researchers and with research advisory boards/groups across several research projects.

School of Geography

Sir Clive Granger Building
University of Nottingham
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Nottingham, NG7 2RD

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