Julie joined the School in January 2023 as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. She holds a DPhil in International Development from the University of Oxford. Her PhD is an ethnographic investigation of the acceptance of an oil extraction project by the Quichua communities of the Lower Napo River. It explores the (valuation) struggles faced by the inhabitants and describes how already struggling subsistence economies are ultimately weakened by joint economic, ecological and social crises. It was funded by the Wolfson-Marriott scholarship (Oxford Department of International Development and Wolfson College), le Fonds Sarah Andrieux (National School of Statistics and Economic Administration – ENSAE-Paris), and the Funds for Women Graduates (FfWG).

In her postdoctoral research, she seeks to question, deconstruct and reframe the concept of cultural difference used in Political Ecology to describe indigenous people's relationship with nature, as a way to reassess the challenges of Ecological Economics in the search for solutions to the 21st century ecological crisis. More generally she is interested in understanding the historical and potential role(s) of academia in grasping, analysing, engaging with and ultimately making space for indigenous knowledge, particularly in the context of such crisis.

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in International Development, University of Oxford
• Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Development Studies, University of Oxford
• Bachelor in Economics, Ecole Normale Supérieure of Cachan and Paris-I Panthéon Sorbonne; Bachelor in Management, Ecole Normale Supérieure of Cachan