Dr. Matthew Hannaford

Matthew Hannaford is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Lincoln, UK. He completed his PhD, entitled ‘The consequences of past climate change for state formation and security’, at the University of Sheffield in 2015. After this, he joined the Department of History at Utrecht University as a postdoctoral researcher to work on the European Research Council-funded project 'Coordinating for life: success and failure of Western European societies in coping with rural hazards and disasters, 1300-1800', in which Matthew expanded the geographical focus of his research to Western Europe.

Research summary

Matthew’s research interests centre around the environmental history of southern Africa before colonial times, especially human interactions with climate variability and the history of food systems. His research also examines the relevance of historical research for present-day questions of climate adaptation. He is currently working on a British Academy-funded project that aims to develop new climate histories for nineteenth century Mozambique using historical documentary records.

Keywords

Climate, Environmental History, Food Systems, Africa, Vulnerability