Hi! I'm Shona.
My research is about conflict, peacebuilding, and the politics of development in Myanmar. My work documents violence and inequality in many places, but also community, creativity, and care. I strive - if imperfectly - to understand these all in equal measure.​
​
Currently, I am a Swiss National Science Foundation Ambizione Fellow at the Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID). I am the Principal Investigator for the project, Governing the Revolution: Rebel Territories As a Laboratory For Foreign Aid. The project investigates tumultuous shifts in the global aid landscape from the vantage point of organisations and individuals driving forward the Spring Revolution in Myanmar. It is hosted at the IHEID's Centre on Conflict, Peacebuilding, and Development.
Previously, I was Senior Scientist (lecturer/researcher) in political geography at the University of Zurich. I completed my DPhil at Oxford and studied at the National University of Singapore. I have also worked with think-tanks, international institutions, and non-profit organisations. With Aaron Connelly, I co-authored New Answers to Old Questions: Myanmar Before and After the 2021 Coup d'etat (2024). You are welcome to contact me, such as for work you want to read but cannot access.
​
I love cooking, knitting, ballet, and contemporary dance. I never seem to do these things enough.
​

