Frances Cleaver

Frances Cleaver is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield. Working from an interdisciplinary base in international development studies, she is interested in how applied social science research can inform interventions for progressive social change.

Frances’s current research is focused on two multi-partner projects which address institutional and governance questions. In the ‘Hidden Crisis’ project she is working with colleagues to investigate the socio-economic and governance dimensions of failures in rural groundwater supply in Malawi, Uganda and Ethiopia. In a project on ‘Greenmentality’ – she is exploring the ways in which access to land and water in Tanzania and Kenya are reshaped through initiatives promoted as part of the ‘green economy.’

Frances draws on previous experience of jobs in planning and service delivery (for the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe) as well as academic posts in a variety of universities (Zimbabwe; Bradford; School of Oriental and African Studies; King’s College, London; and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences). She joined Sheffield as Professor of Human Geography (Geographies of the Global South) in November 2015.