Dr Jana Fried is a human geographer and social scientist with strong expertise in community-based and community-focused research, particularly in the areas of science and society, health and development, environmental risk perception, and community resilience. Drawing on her background in geography, sociology and urban planning, she has been working in various international and interdisciplinary settings on issues pertaining to community resilience and community well-being, frequently focusing on the interface of global challenges and local communities. Across her career, working across the diverse challenges that are emerging from unjust food systems, from unequal access to health care, from global change and from the urgent need for transformations in the food, water and energy sectors has enabled her to draw for her research and inter- and transdisciplinary collaborations on a broad set of experiences, knowledges and academic literature.

At the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, her recent research has focused on linking social science methods with environmental and ecological research, for example when working on invasive species management, on food initiatives in community settings and on broadening participation around food-, water-, soil- and energy- challenges. Specific examples of research Jana has undertaken include projects in South Africa on invasive species management, on water resource allocation, community health workers, on equity in access to health care for people with HIV, TB and for pregnant women; in Canada on risk perceptions of the nuclear sector; and in the UK on the health and well-being benefits of food gardening, and the circular economy. In her research, she utilises a variety of different research methods, with a particular but not exclusive focus on qualitative approaches and increasingly participatory action research methods, while paying particular attention to possible pathways to impact.

She has been working on research and consultancy projects, including in leading roles, that were funded by the Belmont Forum/SUGI; the Conservation Foundation; Coventry University; Department for International Development; the Fedoruk Centre; Feeding Britain; Garden Organic; PEGASuS; the Soil Association; SSHRC; Teasdale-Corti Programme and IDRC; and by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.