Laura Picot

Food crops and the role of farmers' gender and intersectional identities in shaping climate resilience in Ghana

Laura researches how Ghanaian farmers' gender and intersectional identities shape household resilience to climate change and other shocks. She focuses on the role that food crops play in household economies, markets and food security. Her intersectional approach to gender explores the importance of further identities such as age, ethnicity, wealth and position in the household.

In her doctoral research, Laura uses a mixed methods approach that draws on her experience in both the natural and social sciences. She combines qualitative interviews with quantitative analysis of survey and climate data. She was awarded funding through the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) doctoral studentship.

Laura is passionate about improving equity in research and academia and has advised on initiatives across the University of Oxford. She is developing the School's Code of Conduct for ethical and anti-racist fieldwork and worked to diversify and decolonise a Master's course curriculum. In her own research, Laura prioritises non-hierarchical collaboration and reciprocity with research partners from the Global South.

Laura holds an MSc in Environment and Development (Distinction) from the London School of Economics. She was awarded the Best Dissertation Prize for her econometric analysis of the gendered impacts of climate shocks on farmers in Tanzania. She also holds a BSc Biology (First Class) from Durham University.

Prior to her DPhil, Laura was a Senior Associate sustainability and international development consultant at PwC. She worked on land use, gender and development, and green finance projects across policy and private sectors.