Royal Geographical Society awards Professor Patricia Daley and Dr Fiona McConnell

Patricia Daley, Professor of the Human Geography of Africa at the University of Oxford, and Helen Morag Fellow and Tutor in Geography at Jesus College, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in recognition of her outstanding support for the Society and geography.

Patricia said: ‘Teaching and researching in the discipline of geography has been my passion. This honour is accepted on behalf of all those who have supported me on my journey.’

Patricia’s academic research focuses on forced migration, political ecology and Africa. Her principal research interests include the political economy of population migration and settlement (forced migration, identity politics and citizenship), the intersection of space, gender, militarism, sexual violence and peace and violence (geographies of racialization and coloniality using Critical Race Theory and decolonizing methodologies). In addition, she explores the relationship between conservation, resource extraction, and rural livelihoods. Most of her fieldwork is conducted in East and Central Africa, and the UK. Patricia is also a former Vice-Principal of Jesus College and Chair of the College’s Equality and Diversity Committee. She is an elected member of the University Council.

Dr Fiona McConnell, Associate Professor in Human Geography, and Catz Fellow at St Catherine’s College has been awarded the prestigious Back Award by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). The award is presented annually ‘for applied or scientific geographical studies which make an outstanding contribution to the development of national or international public policy’.

Commenting, Fiona said: ‘I am honoured and delighted to receive the Back Award, and do so in recognition of the representatives of stateless, minority and indigenous communities who I’ve had the privilege of working closely with in seeking to make their voices heard on the international stage.’

Dr McConnell’s research focuses on how communities that are officially excluded from formal state politics nevertheless engage with statecraft. Recent work has included studying the challenges faced by diplomats from stateless communities advocating at the UN, analysing the training of diplomats from postcolonial African states, and trying to understand conflict mediation in mining-affected regions in Mongolia and Central Asia.

The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) is the UK's learned society and professional body for geography, supporting geography and geographers across the world. Find out more information on the RGS (with the IBS) medals and awards winner on their website.

• For more information on Professor Patricia Daley’s research, visit her profile page.
• For more information on Dr Fiona McConnell’s research, visit her profile page.