We've asked NAI scholars why they chose a career as a researcher and what motivates them in their work.

Shilpa Asokan 

Shilpa Asokan talks about how her focus on climate change and its impacts was a natural progression from previous work on agriculture and water issues.

Diana Højlund Madsen 

Diana Højlund Madsen talks about challenges for women involved in politics, but also on the mobilisation for gender equality that is taking place on the African continent.

Jesper Bjarnesen

Jesper Bjarnesen talks about how his childhood upbringing in Zambia got him interested in migration issues and that empathy is key for an anthropologist.

Liisa Laakso

Liisa Laakso talks about how the history of her parents in Finland has affected her interest in peace and democracy.

Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues

Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues talks about how, working as a researcher, she has developed a new relationship with her home city, Luanda.

Papa Sow

Papa Sow talks about the need for more research on people´s movement on the African continent.

Bridget Bwalya Umar

Bridget Bwalya Umar talks about the advantage of having a background in the natural sciences and how important it is for researchers to act as honest brokers.

Cristiano Lanzano

Cristiano Lanzano talks about finding his career path by chance and his fascination with unexpected connections.

Patience Mususa

Patience Mususa talks about how an architect's perception of the world led to social anthropology and the importance of people’s own stories in an unequal world.