Profile
Benjamin has an undergraduate degree in International Business from the University of Edinburgh and a master's degree in Global Sustainable Development from Lund University in Sweden. He has 5 years of industry experience in renewable energy and sport for climate action, including as a former employee and current volunteer at Pledgeball, supporting research.
Based largely on the planetary boundaries literature (Rockström et al., 2009), Benjamin is concerned for the planet's future, particularly in the context of justice for marginalised regions, groups and biodiversity. Ben is from South Africa and his work endeavours to establish better representation for Southern Africa, both as a source of knowledge and as an area to be protected from the potential mistakes of more ‘developed’ regions.
PhD research
Despite being a sports fanatic, Benjamin acknowledges the impact elite sport has on the world and seeks fair and practical alternative structures. In this vein, his work focuses on community structures around sport, conceptualised as complex adaptive systems at various scales and the socio-ecological interactions within them.
PhD supervisors
Dr Mark Doidge, Dr Madeleine Orr and Dr James Esson.
Interests and activities
Benjamin loves both watching and playing sport, with the big three of rugby, cricket, and football/soccer. Having grown up on a farm, he also has a keen interest in ecology and agriculture, and tries to base his lifestyle choices on the most up-to-date science to minimise his environmental impact (which is not always very easy!)
Finally, Ben runs a podcast about sustainability and sport which you can find online here.