Rebecca Priti Foster

Thesis working title:

Energy justice in Malawi: the everyday experiences of low-income women living with insecure energy access in Blantyre’s urban periphery.

My PhD project explores the social, economic, cultural, environmental, and technological variables characterising energy access for low-income women at household level situated on the urban periphery. Further, I examine how energy justice is understood and influenced by local traditional leadership. Concurrently, the project seeks to propose detailed policy and practice recommendations based on the findings of this research project. I will be based in Blantyre in Malawi between April 2024 and December 2025. Institutionally, I am based at the University of Cambridge's Department of Geography and the Department of Architecture.

Please do feel free to connect with me if you are interested in my research project.

Past experiences:

At The University of Stirling (2020), I carried out 1-month of independent fieldwork in Bangwe, Malawi for my undergraduate dissertation entitled ‘Access to safe drinking water in Malawi’.

With Project Trust (2015/2016), I was based at Yamikani Orphanage in Bangwe, Malawi. My duties as a volunteer included assisting with day-to-day actives, helping with primary school education in Namatapa village and supporting computer skills classes at AYISE Youth Centre in Bangwe.