Dr Jerome Lewis

Academic position:听Associate Professor

Department:听Anthropology

Telephone number:听0207 679 5567

Biography:

Jerome鈥檚 research with hunter-gatherers of Central Africa began in 1993. During many years of fieldwork in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) with BaYaka forest hunter-gatherers he studied the radically egalitarian politics and economics of these societies with a focus on their conceptualizations of the forest and how they manage its abundance through taboo, myth, ritual, music and dance. Recent publications examine music and dance in cross-cultural perspective, and the evolution of language, music and modern human culture.

Observing the detrimental effects of outsiders鈥� interventions in their forest led to applied research supporting conservation efforts by forest people and facilitating them to better represent themselves to outsiders using new technologies developed by the Extreme Citizen Science team he co-directs at 皇家华人. Recent work as director of the Center for the Anthropology of Sustainability鈥檚 Flourishing Diversity network platforms indigenous and alternative voices to provide insight and policy change for ensuring a future inhabitable earth.

Research Projects:

Award winning early work in developing procedures to implement free, prior and informed consent in the context of extractive industries working in the Congo Basin led to research in developing community-based monitoring systems. This听applied research supporting conservation efforts by forest people and facilitating them to better represent themselves to outsiders was recognized by the Cuthbert Peek Award from the Royal Geographical Society 2010. This work resulted in collaboration with Prof听Muki听Haklay听(Geography) to set up the听Extreme Citizen Science听(ExCiteS) research group in 2011 to develop the tools and methodologies to enable any community regardless of literacy or language to collect and analyse scientifically valid data. ExCiteS is a winner of the Nominet Trust 100 2014 award for using digital innovation to change the world for the better, and the Provost鈥檚 2018 Public Engagement Award at 皇家华人.鈥�
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Building on his work in the听Human Ecology Research Group听(HERG) at 皇家华人 Anthropology Jerome established the听Centre for the Anthropology of Sustainability听(CAoS) in 2013.听颁础辞厂鈥檚听inaugural conference in 2015 brought together a host of anthropological luminaries to reflect on what sustainability means from a global cross-cultural perspective. 鈥疶he rich reflections published in 2017 provided Jerome with the inspiration to develop the concept of听Flourishing Diversity听as an effective way听to solve key ecological and ethical crises facing humanity in the Anthropocene.鈥疘n 2018听CAoS听won the Newton Prize for Brazil with the indigenous organisation CTI, Guarani and Ashaninka peoples of the Atlantic and Amazon forests. In 2019,听颁础辞厂鈥檚听work promoting environmental justice and social sustainability in the Congo Basin was part of 100 disruptive discoveries #MadeAtUCL.

CAoS听blog听听

Publications:

Lewis, J. 2020.听"Living with the Forest."听Scientific American听322, 5, 54-63 (May 2020).听doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0520-54

Fryer-Moreira, R. and听J.听尝别飞颈蝉.鈥�Methods in anthropology to support the design and implementation of geographic citizen science. In:听Skarlatidou, A. and听Haklay听,M. (eds) 鈥�Geographic Citizen Science Design - No One Left Behind鈥�. London: UCL Press (forthcoming 2020).

Lewis, J. 2019.听.听听

Brightman, M. and J. Lewis (eds) 2017.听The Anthropology of Sustainability: Beyond Development and Progress. Palgrave Studies in the Anthropology of Sustainability. Palgrave: New York.听

M. Stevens, M.听Vitos, J.听Altenbuchner, G. Conquest,听J. Lewis听and M.听Haklay, 2014. "Taking Participatory Citizen Science to Extremes," in听IEEE Pervasive Computing,听13听(2): 20-29, Apr.-June. 2014.听doi: 10.1109/MPRV.2014.37

Teaching:

Msc Anthropology, Ecology and Development.

ANTH0021 Hunter-gatherers: past, present and future.听

ANTH0102 Ecology of Human Groups.