Ben Francis

Ben Francis is a Peace Studies and Political Science PhD student.

He has a diverse range of research interests, many of which focus on issues of climate change, gender and violence.  He is interested in how the continuing climate crisis impacts political and conflict-related outcomes and how understanding these issues through a feminist lens can help to produce peacebuilding solutions.  He also looks at how gendered experiences of political representation can influence citizen-state relations in nascent democracies.

Ben holds a B.A. in International Relations and English Language from the University of Westminster and an M.A. in Global Development and International Political Economy from the University of Leeds.   Previously Ben has worked for almost a decade in the international aid sector, focussing on development and peacebuilding issues and has during this time lived and worked in various contexts, including Palestine, Libya, Nepal and Afghanistan.