Paul Rogers

Mediating (Cap)abilities – the role of institutions in determining the impact of climate change on disabled people

Paul Rogers

Professor: Fiona Nunan and Dr David Cobley

Paul’s research focuses on how institutions mediate the capabilities of disabled people when confronted by extreme droughts and floods. Whilst there exist both theoretical and empirical studies linking disability and poverty and the vulnerability to climate change of economically marginalised populations is understood there is relatively little research exploring the relationship between disability and climate change. A mixed-method research design frames an explorative and explanatory study of this relationship. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups with disabled communities and stakeholders are supplemented by analysis of living standards measurement studies in Ethiopia and Uganda.

Qualifications

  • MA in Social Research, University of Birmingham, 2018
  • MSc in International Development, University of Birmingham, 2015
  • BA (Hons) in Italian and Theology, University of Birmingham, 2001

Biography

Paul first joined IDD in 2013 to undertake a part-time MSc in International Development having studied humanities (also at the University of Birmingham) at an undergraduate level and having worked in scholarly publishing and international development. His MSc dissertation looked at the social and cultural impacts of environmental degradation on pastoralists in the Afar region of Ethiopia. He stayed within IDD to start an ESRC-funded PhD in 2016 and gained his MA in Social Research in 2018, with a thesis which asked and developed his research questions through a study of the relationship between climate change and disability in Tanzania. 

In addition to undertaking his PhD part-time, Paul works as the Head of Strategic Partnerships for a UK-headquartered international organisation, CABI, which works in the fields of agricultural development and environmental management.

Conference Papers

  • Accessible climate policy: to what extent are climate policies in East Africa disability-inclusive?
  • Development Studies Association conference (2019), Milton Keynes, United Kingdom 
  • Invaded Spaces – the changing social topography of Prosopis infested rangelands in Southern Afar
  • Ethiopia, Development Studies Association conference (2015), Bath, United Kingdom

Publications

Rogers, P., Nunan, F. & Fentie, A.A. (2017), Reimagining invasions: The social and cultural impacts of Prosopis on pastoralists in southern Afar, Ethiopia., Pastoralism, 7:22. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13570-017-0094-0
Email:pxr773@bham.ac.uk