JD (Joseph) Sandoval MSc

I am a water resources engineer with background in irrigation and drainage, surface water modelling and hydroinformatics. However, from 2021, my research interests shifted direction towards the social sciences. My interests include agrarian change, climate justice, irrigation development and social learning.

Currently, I am a PhD student engaged in research at the intersection of ecology, society and climate change. In my PhD project*, I aim to understand how the water management of mangrove rice production in Guinea-Bissau is affected by social and environmental issues brought by climate change and politics. I employ a transdisciplinary approach borrowing methods from both the natural sciences (e.g. remote sensing and measurement programs) and the social sciences (e.g. participant observation and interviews) and utilising different lenses/perspectives such as political ecology, anthropology of development, science and technology studies and co-production of knowledge.

*My PhD project is part of an EU-funded project DeSIRA Malmon (Mangrove, mangrove rice and mangrove people - sustainably improving rice production, ecosystems and livelihood). For more information about Malmon, visit the website: https://www.malmon-desira.com/