Nelly Leblond

Responsabilités

Teaching Activities​

Compétences

• Environmental Geography (sanitation, electronic waste, agricultural investments, circular economy, fires) at the crossroads of the sociology of science and technology and Politics Ecology.
• Mixed methodologies (soil and heavy metal analysis, cartography and GIS, ethnography, qualitative interviews, bibliometrics, oral history, remote sensing)
• Field work in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Israel/Palestine, and professional relations on gender and sanitation in several African countries (DRC, Madagascar, Tanzania, Senegal, Ivory Coast).
• Teaching in GIS, planning geography, sociology of science, in different universities in French and English (MCF Qualification, Section 23, in 2018 and 2024).
• Doctorate in human geography on transformations of rural areas in northern Mozambique (2017). Recipient of the 2018 prize of the GIS African Studies and the Society of Africanists and of the 2018 silver medal from the French Academy of Agriculture.

Thèmes de recherche

Research activities

Over the last six years, I have had the opportunity to work with different international teams to develop a mixed methodological approach, combining qualitative, quantitative and spatial techniques to address situated research questions and needs. I have combined remote sensing and image analysis of fires to document waste burning, soil sampling to assess waste related contamination, and oral history to reconstruct sanitation trajectories of African cities in a context of silent archives. My research thus contributes to an environmental geography, attentive both to the materiality of phenomena and to the power relations which shape their deployment in space and the discourses regarding them.

Research approaches

Organization of scientific events

• Co-organization of a Knowledge Exchange in Antananarivo on the Valorization of faecal sludge by methanization , 8 international participants, 6 days, budget, logistics, program, with members of SiMIRALENTA -GA, Nadine Coetzee and Alban Hasson (2023)
• Co-organization of a Knowledge Exchange in Abidjan on the occasion of the International conference on fecal sludge management . Budget, logistics, 1 participant from Tanzania and 1 participant from Madagascar, contribution to two conference presentations, field visits and research and advocacy activities, with Angèle Koué (GEPALEF) (2023)
• Co-organization of a Knowledge Exchange in India, with the Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Program (TNUSSP): 25 participants of 9 nationalities for 10 days, logistics, budgeting, visa procedures, interpretation, press briefings, field visits and interviews, general public event in Chennai, communication and reflective blogs. With Abhilaasha Nagarajan (TNUSSP), Nadine Coetzee and Alban Hasson (UCL) (2023)
• Co-organization of the panel “The making and unmaking of sanitation taboos across urban Africa” with Prof. Adriana Allen, Development Studies Association Conference . Writing the framing of the panel, communication, selection of participants, and contribution to the formatting of the content (2022)
• Co-organization of a Knowledge Exchange in Freetown with the Sierra Leone Urban Research Center (SLURC): 2 participants from the United Kingdom, 1 participant from Tanzania, 1 week. Transport logistics, planning (field visits, interviews, focus groups on sanitation issues), with Ibrahim Bakar Bangura (SLURC) (2022)
• Co-chair of the session “Gender, intersectionality and work in sanitation” with A. Lerebours , S. Cawood and A. Bhakta , International Sanitation Workers Forum (2021)
• Co-organizer of international webinars “Sanitation in urban Africa : toilets , seats of gender inequality ?” with Claudy Vouhé, coordination of teams in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Madagascar and DRC for content production, event communication, logistical organization (interpretation, graphic designer) (2021)
• Organizer of the “Decolonizing ” session urban taboos through celebration” , RISE Africa conference, selection of participants, participation in the recording and editing of two video presentations, communication (2021)
• Co-organizer of the session “Land and Water in the midst of Global Changes”, AAG annual conference in Boston (2017).
• Co-organizer of the seminar “Rethinking land at the heart of technical and legal mechanisms for territorial construction” , with J Trottier and S. Ghiotti (2017)
• Co-organizer of the seminar “Political issues of land and water in Africa and the Middle East ”, with J Trottier and L. Gay (2016)
• Member of the Thinking project War Exits through the Prism of Natural Crisis and Resources Policies (2017-2018), Funded by the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (MSH-Sud), under the direction of Cécile Jouhanneau , Pierre Journoud and Nancy Meschinet de Richemond .
• Member of the Steering Committee of the Paracommons Water Project in the Palestinian Territories (2016-2018), financed by AFD and directed by DR. Trottier
• Elected representative of doctoral students at UMR ART-Dev (2015-2017)

Encadrement

Student supervision                                                                                                                                   

• Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique, with Prof. Esmeralda Mariano (2022-2024)
• Co-supervision of 2 master’s students with Prof. Allen and Prof. Hofmann.
• Establishment of field scholarships for students from African universities
• Proofreading of thesis manuscripts and dissertations (+10 in total)
• Organization of Doctoral Symposium in 2015, 2016 and 2017 (establishment of the call for papers, logistics, invitation of discussing colleagues)
• Organization of “post-thesis” sessions, mobilizing internal and external speakers, in order to inform students about different professional opportunities.

Projets

Research PROJECTS

Project “CREATE.S Collaborative Research & Teaching for Sustainable Urban Systems” (2024-2026, $25,000 USD, Wohl Clean Growth Alliance Grants) * Role: Core supporting partner, primary applicant: Dr. Saul Golden

This project brings together teacher-and researchers interested in developing collaborations on clean growth in the fields of water, energy and food, and in improving the consideration of communities marginalized by mainstream approaches to global changes. The exchanges will be disseminated and consolidated via a digital platform and the development of in-depth research proposals.

Project “Thickening and Expanding the investigation into e- waste impacts & opportunities” (2024-2026, $498,184 USD, MERC/USAID) *Role: Co-leader with Prof. Garb (PI), writing of the project and budget

We continue with Prof. Garb and a multinational team the multi-scalar study of the environmental and health impacts of electronic waste burning in several Palestinian villages, including a study of potential contamination via the olive sector (olive oil and table olive). We will also analyse the samples collected by members of the Tatweer association wa Nahda in the villages. and will work with a Palestinian artist to represent what it means to live in a contaminated area.

Project “Weaving Gender and Sanitation Justice: exchanges across Francophone Africa” (2022, £14,800, HEIF ) * Role : Co-leader, writing of the project and budget with partners, co -submission with Prof. Allen and Dr. Wesely

This research grant allowed us, with four African feminist associations (OGDS in Saint Louis in Senegal, GEPALEF in Abidjan, SiMIRALENTA /GA in Antananarivo, and CFCEM/GA in Bukavu) and the French association Etre Egale, to carry out action-research activities on gender and sanitation issues. The partners documented their activities: soap making, making a film on the toilets of a public market, co-producing communication tools with sanitation workers, writing theatre plays. These results have enriched the OVERDUE team and renewed public discussions in the four cities.

OVERDUE project “Tackling the sanitation taboo” - additional funding (2021-2022, £115,833.32, UCL Institutional Emergency Global Research Fund) *Role: in the context of budget cuts linked to COVID-19, construction of a budget, activity proposals and justifications in coordination with the project director, coordination and submission of the request.

OVERDUE Project “Tackling the sanitation taboo” (2020-2023, £1,594,586, UKRI/GCRF ESRC) *Role: Research Fellow, scientific, financial management and communication functions, under the direction of Prof. Allen

Study of sanitation inequalities in urban Africa through the prism of the historical trajectory of cities, the experience of workers and residents, and the implementation of innovative projects (rehabilitation of public toilets, faecal sludge transformation, co-produced regulation). I contributed to the design and implementation of survey methods, team dynamics (seminars, training, international exchanges) and communication.

Project “Assessing the Health and Environmental Impacts of Unregulated E- waste Recycling and Disposal” (2018-2020 and 2022-2023, $475,636 USD, MERC/USAID) *Role: Postdoctoral researcher, field work, literature review, data analysis, under the direction of Prof. Garb .

With Palestinian communities specializing in electronic waste recycling, we explored the impacts of the sector on their daily activities as well as their aspirations. Using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) we studied the dispersion of heavy metals (notably lead, copper, cadmium, and arsenic) from waste burning sites identified as problematic by residents. We also conducted a bibliometric study to understand the geography of knowledge on electronic waste (to be published) and carried out a participatory mapping approach of burning sites, training members of the Tatweer association wa Nahda to QGIS and analysis of high-resolution aerial photographs.

“De Terres et D’eaux” Project (2014-2017, €579,230, ANR) * Role: Contribution to the Mozambican case study, Research Technician, under the direction of DR. Trottier

This project explored the mechanisms of territorial and political recomposition concerning water and land induced by global discourses (climate change, water crisis, land grabbing) from actors involved in food production. As a doctoral student, I documented the experiences of the inhabitants of a development corridor located in northern Mozambique during reinvestment and contributed to collective activities (seminars, report). Complementing the investigation of DR. Trottier on the future of Palestinian sharecroppers, we have with Prof. Garb mapped the expansion of date palm plantations in the West Bank.

Research activities

Over the last six years, I have had the opportunity to work with different international teams to develop a mixed methodological approach, combining qualitative, quantitative and spatial techniques to address situated research questions and needs. I have combined remote sensing and image analysis of fires to document waste burning, soil sampling to assess waste related contamination, and oral history to reconstruct sanitation trajectories of African cities in a context of silent archives. My research thus contributes to an environmental geography, attentive both to the materiality of phenomena and to the power relations which shape their deployment in space and the discourses regarding them.

Research approaches

Publications

Research dissemination

• Construction & maintenance of websites: OVERDUE: https://overdue-justsanitation.net and Tatweer association wa Nahda: https://tatweer-nahda.org/
• production & editing: filmed interviews, audio and video editing, subtitling.
• Coordination of on-site and online advocacy campaigns (creation and maintenance of Twitter-X, Facebook pages).

Summary of scientific productions

Currently being published

1. Leblond N., et al., 2024, Sanitation silences: historicizing and decolonizing sanitation trajectories across Freetown, Beira and Mwanza , Article currently being evaluated by Water Alternatives.
2. Garb Y., Leblond N., 2024, Critical bibliometric insights for political ecology: the example of electronic waste knowledge formation. Submitted to the Journal of Political Ecology
3. Bangura, IB, Leblond N. , Walker J., 2024, Stigmatized professions and ambiguous subjects: methodological reflections from sanitation workers and opioid consumption. Research note accepted by African Affairs in October 2023
4. Leblond N., 2024, Sanitation, Toilets and excreta in urban Africa: questioning the health equation . Article accepted for the file “African geographies in the making: expressions, places, temporalities”, Geographic Information, to be published.
5. Garb Y., Leblond N., Sweity I., Sweity A., Awawdi S., 2024, Circulating toxics in circular economies: Lead in playground floorings from recycled cable-coating in Palestine . Article submitted to Environmental science and technology letters

peer-reviewed journals

1. Garb Y., Leblond N. , 2023, Flowing Toxics: E-waste field work in the Palestinian-Israeli space. Environment & Planning C., May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1177/23996544231176923
2. Leblond N. 2022, Compromised sources: limits and refusal of a soil campaign in African lands undergoing reinvestment. Sources. Materials & grounds in African studies. https://www.sources-journal.org/767
3. Allen A. , Hofmann P., Leblond N. , Walker J., Kombe W., Vouhé C., Bloch R., Koroma B., Marx C., Foday Kamara S., Montserrat Petit G., Ndezi T., Roque S., Simões Mavila C., Bakarr Bangura I., Makoba F., Polonia Cabral I., Prosper R., 2021, COVID-19: A turning point to further sanitation justice? Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Equality and Diversity Journal, http://journals.hw.ac.uk/index.php/IPED/article/view/103
4. Trottier J., Leblond N. , Garb Y., 2019, The Political Role of Date Palm Trees in the Jordan Valley: The Transformation of Palestinian Land and Water Tenure in Agriculture Made Invisible by Epistemic Violence . Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, https://doi.org/10.1177/2514848619876546
5. Leblond N., 2019, Community consultations and land dispossession. A geography of power in Northern Mozambique . International Journal of Development Studies N°238, pp.165-19, https://doi.org/10.3917/ried.238.0165
6. Leblond N. , 2017, Governing agriculture using models? The case of CAADP in Mozambique . Cybergeo : European Journal of Geography , Politics , Culture and Representations , https://doi.org/10.4000/cybergeo.28477
7. Leblond N. and Trottier J., 2016, Performing an Invisibility Spell: Global Models, Food Regimes and Smallholders . International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, Vol. 23, https://doi.org/10.48416/ijsaf.v23i1.127
8. Peth S., Chenu C., Leblond N. , Mordhorst A., Garnier P., Nunan N., Pot V., Ogurreck M., Beckmann F., 2014, Localization of soil organic matter in soil aggregates using synchroton -based X-ray microtomography . Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Vol. 78, p. 189-194, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2014.07.024

Database

Garb Y. , Leblond N. , Tatweer wa Nahda, Alswaitti A., Awawdi S., Alyamany F., Alhroub A., Sharawnah I., Um Muhamad, Alswaitti M. Davis, JM, Alswaitti Sa., Alwaitti Su., 2024, Comprehensive mapping of burn sites in the West Line area (1999-2023). Harvard Dataverse , V1 https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/VUKLGP ,

Book chapters

Walker J., Allen A., Bangura IB, Hofmann P., Kombe W., Leblond N., Makoba FD, Limbumba TM, Simões Mavila Magaia C., Vouhé C., Wesely J., 2023, Pursuing aspirations for decent sanitation work: How informal workers navigate the universe of rules that shape sanitation practices in urban Africa . In “Contested Urban Spaces: Urbanization, Law, and Informal Work” edited by Thomas Coggin & Roopa Madhav, Taylor & Francis/Routledge

Leblond N. , 2024, Terre et politique en Afrique australe: de la ségrégation à l’hétérogénéisation des relations socio-saptiales”. Proofread chapter for the unpublished book series “The land question in Africa, editors: Chouquer G., Rochegude A., https://hal.science/hal-04548648

Reading notes

Leblond N. , 2024. Gramaglia Christelle, Habiter la Pollution Industrielle. Expériences et métrologies citoyennes de la contamination. Paris: Presses des Mines, coll. “Social Sciences Collection”, 2023. Revue d’Anthropologie des Connaissances, https://doi.org/10.4000/11r9y

Leblond N. , 2021 Vicente Pinilla and Henry Willebald , ( dir .), Agricultural Development in the World Periphery . A Global Economic History Approach , Cham, Switzerland, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, 519 p. Rural Studies

Leblond N. , 2019, Morier- Genoud , E., Cahen, M., and do Rosario, Domingos M. 2018. The War Within: New Perspectives on the Civil War in Mozambique 1976-1992. Rochester, New York: James Currey. 268 pp. The African Studies Quarterly, Vol. 18.

Leblond N. , 2019, Macola Giacomo, 2016, The Gun in central Africa. A History of Technology and Politics. Ohio University Press, 266 pp. The Journal of Africanists .

Other scientific publications

Sambou A., Diouf P., Leblond N., Vouhé C., 2023. Wolof-French glossary – Gender and sanitation in Senegal. 24 p. Resource produced as part of the OVERDUE project. https://bit.ly/48W6oyJ

Hofmann P, Leblond N, Leao A, Mujinga A., Ndezi T. and Bakarr Bangura I, 2023, From African pipe dreams to incremental sanitation improvements through experimentation . OVERDUE blog https://overdue-justsanitation.net/?p=5223

Coetzee N., Leblond N., 2023. In bitterness you can find sweetness: Insights from the 2022 World Toilet Day “Making the Invisible Visible” OVERDUE campaign OVERDUE blog https://overdue-justsanitation.net/?p=4975

Vouhé C., Leblond N. , 2021 , Gendered taboos surrounding toilets & sanitation in African cities . Blog post published on the DPU website: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/dpublog/2021/12/14/

Leblond N. , 2021, Decolonizing urban sanitation through celebration . Blog post published on the DPU website https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/dpublog/2021/09/14/

Hofmann P. and Leblond N. , 2021, Sanitation . The DPU (post) COVID Lexicon . DPU News, Issue 68. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/development/publications/2021/apr/dpu-news-issue-68

Leblond N. and Garb Y., 2019 , Palestinian date palm trees in the Jericho area . Report to the Economic Cooperation Foundation. 13 p.

Leblond N. , 2018, The African agricultural revolution from its margins: concentration and relegation in Northern Mozambique. Research Note for the French Academy of Agriculture

Leblond N. , 2016, When land investments land: Relations of power and knowledge during meetings between investors, residents and administrations in Northern Mozambique. Paper prepared for the “Pôle Foncier”, Montpellier, October 12, 2016

Albuquerque L., Jutteau P., Leblond N. , Oiry A., Prigent G., 2013, Adapting the city to global warming of 4°C: the case of Los Angeles. Study for La Fabrique de la Cité & the Department of Geography of the ENS.

Cornilleau L. and Leblond N., 2012, Governing global food security through modeling: the case of the IFPRI IMPACT model . Paper presented at IFRIS Graduate School, March 24, 2012

Mouillot F., Leblond N. , Delfino Barbosa JP, 2011, Identification of driving force – impact – response chain relationship between different climate change scenarios and/or induced anthropogenic reactions on fire risk. Deliverable 8.2, WP 8, CLARIS - LPB –EU FP7.

Leblond N. , Mouillot F., Delfino Barbosa JP, Rambal S., 2010, Regional Fire Patterns in the La Plata Basin: Role of Landscape and Human Practices from global fire datasets. Poster presented and awarded at the CLARIS-LBP Conference in Florianópolis, Brazil, November 2010

Multimedia productions

Leblond N., Recording, video editing, subtitling. “ A poem entitled No to burning waste in Beit Awa ” (2024). Poetry written and read by Maysoon Al- Sweiti , translation A. Sweity , Photos and video excerpts by M. Al- Sweiti . https://youtu.be/UmZqqRezjA8?si=xFeVco_s8Mf7fM2Q

Leblond N., Co-writing of the script with I. Al- Sweiti and Y. Garb , editing and illustrations with A. Al- Sweiti . “ Electronic waste & human health in the West Line ” (2023), 10 min film directed by A. Al- Sweiti and I. Al- Sweiti on the impacts of electronic waste on human health. https://youtu.be/a-VCTqgYwpg?feature=shared

Leblond N., Interview, recording, video editing . “ Seeking Clean Environments ” (2022), 8 min film, with S. Awawdi and A. Sweity , on the relationships between the dismantling of electronic waste, the Israeli occupation and environmental impacts. https://youtu.be/4LZ48cY5xKg

Leblond N., coordination, subtitling, conducting interviews for the “ Women in Sanitation ” campaign (2022-2023) coordinated by the Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Program, documenting the experiences of women workers in the sanitation sector in India and in different African countries. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX_a5TgJt9ioLDkR_Khfp3B2-DgE6Hrz1&si=P2n3xOdgbaLhGkCf

Leblond N., co-design with A. Allen and C. Vouhé, coordination, recordings, editing of audio clips, translation and subtitling, communication “ Voicing Just Sanitation ” (2020) and “Assainissement pour tou.te.s ” (2021) https://overdue-justsanitation.net/videos/#audio-clips

Conferences (Selection)

Y. Garb , Leblond N., 2023, Toward Circular Economies? The political economy of closing loops of production, waste, and recovery. UPPA/Tree seminar , August 29 , 2023, Pau

Leblond N. , Sweity I. Awawdi S., Sweity A., Garb Y., 2023 , Assessing and reducing environmental health risks to children within a continually contaminated landscape . Presentation at the One Health Conference, USAID, March 21, 2023 in Jerusalem

Makoba DF* ., Leblond N. , Vouhé C., 2023, Gendering Faecal Sludge Management to support just sanitation. Presentation at Faecal Sludge Management Conference in Abidjan, March 2023. *I wrote and submitted the abstract and the first version of the text, taken up and presented by Makoba .

Leblond N., 2021, Co-chaired Session 4 of the Sanitation Workers Forum on Gender Intersectionality and Sanitation Work, Interviewed & edited Ndéye Penda Diouf on Women's invisible work in the sanitation Sector in Saint Louis Senegal “ and Angèle koué , Jeannine Raoelimiadana Ramarokoto , and Mina Rakotoarindrasata Sanitation as a livelihood for women in Abidjan and Antananarivo . International conference online, Nov. 29, 2021 - Dec. 3, 2021

Leblond N., 2021, Sanitation Workers Forum 2021 – Session 1 Marginalization & Representation of Sanitation Workers. Interviewed & edited Festo D. Makoba on Building networks of sanitation workers from the ground up . International conference online, Nov. 29, 2021 - Dec. 3, 2021

Vouhé C., Leblond N., & OVERDUE team 2021, International Webinar Sanitation in urban Africa : toilets , seats of gender inequality ? /Sanitation in urban Africa: Toilet, seat of gender inequalities? Coordinated research in Senegal, Ivory Coast, Madagascar and DRC lead by GEPALEF, OGDS, SiMIRALENTA and CFCEM/GA. Contributed to editing 4 pre-recorded films, set up English-French interpretation, registration and communication. Nov 12, 2021

Leblond N., & OVERDUE team 2021, RISE Africa conference, coordinating session “Decolonizing urban taboos through celebration” ( online recording ). Coordinated presentations & communication, edited 2 short films Celebrating Menstruation to tackle taboos and Celebrating Sanitation: the case of Mwanza Tanzania and 24-28 May 2021