AaPiA Members

Dr. Hannah Gibson founded AaPiA with Florian. Hannah is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the Department of Language and Linguistics at the University of Essex. Her research focuses on linguistic variation, and why and how languages change. Much of her work explores the syntax and semantics of the Bantu languages. She is also interested in language and identity and, among other things, she is PI on the AHRC-DFG funded project 'Microvariation and youth language practices in Africa' (2022-24).

Contact: h.gibson@essex.ac.uk

Dr. Florian G. Kern founded AaPiA together with Hannah. Florian is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the Department of Government at the University of Essex. His research concentrates on local governance in Africa, with a focus on customary and informal institutions, as well as land rights. He also works on mixed methods applications and research transparency. 

Contact: fkern@essex.ac.uk

Dr. Nestor Asiamah is a Lecturer in Health and Social Care in the School of Health and Social Care, University of Essex. His research focuses on healthy ageing, physical activity, and health services. Nestor in the Executive Director of Africa Centre for Epidemiology, which he co-founded in 2016. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals, including PLOS ONE, International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health, and Frontiers in Health Services.  

Contact: n.asiamah@essex.ac.uk

Dr Aïcha Belkadi is linguist based at SOAS University of London. Her research focusses on the Amazigh group of languages indigenous to North Africa from both grammatical and social perspectives. She has published on the morphosyntactic, syntactic and discourse properties of Taqbaylit (Algeria) and am currently working on the relation between multilingualism, social cohesion, citizen participation and peace building in the Maghreb, with special attention to education, health and youth inclusion

Contact: ab105@soas.ac.uk

Prof. Han Dorussen is Professor at the Department of Government at the University of Essex. He studies international relations and conflict resolution. His work has focused on peacekeeping and peace building in post-conflict societies. He is also interested in the importance of political trust in external actors, such as the UN, regional organisations, and NGOs. He specialises in quantitative methods, field and survey experiments.

Contact: hdorus@essex.ac.uk

Dr. Tarila Marclint Ebiede is a Political Scientist. He is co-founder of Conflict Research Network West Africa (CORN). He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Brussels School of Governance, Belgium. His research concentrates on local governance, (in)security, and the politics of peacebuilding in communities affected by violent conflicts.

Contact: marclint@gmail.com

Professor Nancy Kula is a linguist based at University of Essex. Her research is concerned with descriptive and theoretical linguistics, as well as engangered languges, mulitilingualism and language in education, with a focus on Africa. 

Contact: nckula@essex.ac.uk

Dr. Crisófia Langa da Câmara is a researcher at the Department of Language and Communication of the Centro de Estudos Africanos at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique. Her research focuses on Mozambican Bantu languages description; minority and endangered languages documentation, and the Morphology and Syntax of the Bantu languages. Her research work also involves the development of teaching manuals and Bilingual education teachers training contents.

Contact: crisofia.c.camara@uem.ac.mz

Lutz Marten is Professor of General and African Linguistics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He is interested in how language is structured and used, how languages differ and change over time, and how language is linked to culture, society, history, nature and other domains of human life. Most of his work focuses on African languages and aims to contribute to the understanding, valorisation and promotion of African languages and their use.

Contact: lm5@soas.ac.uk

David Obot is currently a Research Coordinator at the All Saints University Lango (ASUL) in Lira City, Uganda. He is also a member of the Inter-University Joint Research Consortium that provides research support to the Church of Uganda Universities (All Saints University Lango, Ankole Western University, Ndejje University, and Uganda Christian University). David has extensive experience on humanitarian refugees and internally displaced persons issues and the effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable communities in Uganda. 

Contact: patrikobdd@gmail.com

Esibo Simon Omaada is an associate director in the Directorate of Post Graduate Studies, Research and Enterprise, and Coordinator of the Center for Professional Development of Uganda Martyrs University, Uganda. Esibo lectures in the Department of Governance, Peace and International Studies. He studies conflicts, violence and societal formations.

Contact: oesibo@gmail.com

Dr. Chimaobi Onwukwe is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies/Igbo, Abia State University, Nigeria.  He is interested in Igbo structural features, sociolinguistics of migration, and Igbo onomastics. More recently, his works are on language and identity in different migrant and contact spaces including in Africa, and the African diaspora, as well as African indigenous peacebuilding. He worked on the project on indigenous and marginalized youth in Sub-Saharan Africa as part of the UNESCO Center for Lifelong Learning (2017-2019), Nigeria group, as well the French Institute for Research in Africa project on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa 2020. He is currently collaborating on a book project on “Decolonizing research methodologies: Effective indigenous research methodologies in the Sub-Saharan Africa”.

Contact: chima.onwukwe2016@gmail.com

Dr. Miranda Simon is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the at the Department of Government at the University of Essex. She focuses on migration, refugee movement and immigration policy. Recent work has focused on aspirations to migrate among youth in West Africa. Methodologically, she specialises in computational methods, field and survey experiments.

Contact: miranda.simon@essex.ac.uk

Dr. Tata Emmanuel Sunjo is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Buea. He is also a Governance Fellow at the Nkafu Policy Institute, Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation in Cameroon. His research interests include climate change and natural disaster risks, management and use of natural resources, environmental politics and policy, and natural resources related conflicts. He has published scientific papers and book chapters and has also written a number of policy briefs on governance and regional integration issues. Dr. Sunjo is a member of the Climate Mobility Africa Research Network (CMARN) and a member of the Global Engagement Network on Internal Displacement in Africa (GENIDA).

Contact: tataemmanuel@gmail.com

Dr. Fiona Tumusiime is a Lecturer and Research Coordinator at the Faculty of Socio-Economic Sciences, Cavendish University Kampala, Uganda.  Her focus is on peacebuilding, conflict management, and disarmament in pastoralist communities, terrorism, gender, transformative learning and research.  Her research areas have significantly involved areas affected by conflict and vulnerable communities in Uganda. 

Contact: tumusiimefiona@gmail.com or ftumusiime@cavendish.ac.ug