
Mensah Owusu
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Arts
I am a doctoral research student in the Department of Geography, Environment and Population(GEP), University of Adelaide. My PhD research interests lie in field of climate change with a specific focus on gender, vulnerability to climate change and livelihood security in marginalized urban communities in the Global South.
Overall, my research focuses on the interlinkages between gender and vulnerability to climate change and its consequential impacts on the livelihoods of men and women living in informal settlements in the developing world, specifically Ghana.
My research aims at contributing a new perspective from the urban context of the developing world to the literature on social vulnerability thereby enriching the discourse on social vulnerability to climate change.
Title of Thesis: Gender vulnerability to climate change and livelihood security in marginalised communities in Accra, Ghana.
Climate change is recognised as one of the greatest development challenges that confronts humanity in the 21st century. It is widely recognised that the impacts of this phenomenon will fall heavily on cities in the developing world due to their limited capacities to prepare for and to cope with its effects. However, there is limited understanding regarding how the impacts of climate change will be differently felt by men and women living in urban slums and marginalised communities in the developing world. While the impacts of climate change are increasingly felt by everyone in the city, it is acknowledged that poor women usually bear the brunt of the effects. Did you know that about 90% of 140,000 people killed in cyclone disasters in Bangladesh in 1991 were women? The above case raises an important question: Is there a gender dimension to climate change? In other words, is the impact of climate change gender-neutral?
The above is the overarching question that my research seeks to answer. Drawing on social vulnerability and feminist political ecology theories my research examines the interconnections between gender and vulnerability to climate change and its consequential impacts on livelihoods of men and women living in three urban slums in Accra, Ghana.
My research will offer both theoretical and practical contributions. Theoretically, the findings of the study will contribute a new perspective from the urban context to the literature on social vulnerability thereby enriching the discourse on social vulnerability to climate change.
In terms of practice, my research will make a significant contribution to the on-going gender mainstreaming and climate change policy development process of developing countries, particularly Ghana by enabling practitioners and researchers to have a better understanding of how men and women living in low-income settlements in cities are affected by climate change and what kind of capacity and support is needed to address these impacts.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2015 - 2015 Research Assistant University of Adelaide 2014 - 2015 Research Assistant University of Sunshine Coast 2009 - 2013 Urban Planner People's Dialogue on Human Settlements(PDHS) 2002 - 2005 Teacher Church of Christ Senior High School 2001 - 2002 Teaching and Research Assistant University of Ghana -
Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2015 Award Best Presentation Overall, GEP Postgraduate Conference Award Department of Geography, Environment and Population, University of Adelaide Australia 2015 Research Award Finalist, Three Minutes Thesis Competition The University of Adelaide Australia 2014 Award Faculty Winner of the Three Minutes Thesis Competition The University of Adelaide Australia -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2005 - 2006 University College London United Kindgom Master of Science(MSc) 2004 - 2005 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Ghana Master of Science(MSc) 1997 - 2001 University of Ghana Ghana Bachelor of Arts(Hons) -
Research Interests
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Journals
Year Citation 2016 Fidelman, P., Tuyen, T., Nong, K., Nursey-Bray, M., Keoc, P., & Owusu, M. (2016). Adaptive Capacity of Coastal Resource Management Institutions in Cambodia, Vietnam and Australia. APN Science Bulletin, (6), 27-33. 2013 Owusu, M. (2013). Community-managed reconstruction after the 2012 fire in Old Fadama, Ghana. Environment and Urbanization, 25(1), 1-6.
DOI2012 Farouk, B., & Owusu, M. (2012). "If in doubt, count": the role of community-driven enumerations in blocking eviction in Old Fadama, Accra. Environment & Urbanization, 24(1), 47-57.
DOI
1.Adelaide Scholarships International (ASI)
2.The Charles and Frank Fenner Postgraduate Research Grant
1. Research Assistant(Part-time): University of Adelaide, August 2015-December 2015.
Responsibilities:
1. Conducting a literature review on climate change adaptation and Indigenous Peoples
2. Giving guest lecture in environmental ethics
3. Marking students' essays
4. Doing other research work as required.
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Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2015 - ongoing Representative Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee(GEDI) The University of Adelaide Australia
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