Narratives of varied everyday lives and linked approaches (NOVELLA), UCL Institute of Education London

Catherine Walker

Postgraduate Researcher of Family Lives and the Environment

Catherine Walker's PhD thesis is entitled 'Environment and children's everyday lives in India and England: Experiences, understandings and practices' and is principally concerned with childrens everyday environments, their responses to environmental concerns and their assessments of their capacities to act on these. Through these research interests, Catherine engages critically with the ways in which the current generation of children are increasingly being encouraged to take a leading role in encouraging 'pro-environmental' changes amongst family members and peers in a world concerned with climate change. 

Catherine's thesis is based on her analytic work with narratives generated through multiple research activities carried out with a sample of 11-15 year old children living in varied contexts in India (Andhra Pradesh) and England. Catherine has worked closely with the Family Lives and the Environment project at all stages of her PhD research, and her thesis includes secondary analysis of qualitative data generated for Young Lives, a longitudinal study of children growing up in poverty in four countries, based at the University of Oxford.

Prior to taking up this PhD studentship, Catherine completed an MSc in 'Globalisation and Latin American Development' at the Institute for the Study of the Americas, University of London, where she wrote her dissertation on environmental education and activism among young people in Brazil. Catherine has worked alongside young people on community projects in Brazil, Chile and Guatemala, and has undertaken a number of research internships for international NGOs working with youth and children. Catherine also has a BA in Hispanic Studies (Spanish and Portuguese) from the University of Nottingham.