Active Members

Meet some of our active members:

Patrice Bigombe Logo, University of Yaounde, Cameroon

Patrice Bigombe Logo is a Political Scientist, Lecturer and Researcher at the Group for Administrative, Political and Social Science Research (GRAPS) at the University of Yaounde II, Permanent Researcher at the Paul ANGO ELA Foundation of Geopolitics in Central Africa (FPAE) and the Director of the Center of Research and Action for Sustainable Development in Central Africa (CERAD). He is also associate lecturer at the Catholic University of Central Africa (UCAC) and at the Institute of International Relations of Cameroon (IRIC) of the University of Yaounde II. His scientific research is mainly based on the sociology of the State, the government and the recognition of Central African Hunters-Gatherers “Pygmies” and the governance of natural resources in Central Africa.

Vinod Chellan, Cochin University of Science and Technology, India

Vinod Chellan is a PhD Research scholar at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), Kerala, India. His research focuses on the socio-economic conditions of his own community, namely, the Cholanaickan. He is an education activist working with the Adivasi communities and dedicated to bring the social and cultural perspectives of the Cholanaickan community to a global platform. Apart from these, he has also been involved in Malayalam films, documentaries, and related projects that explore the socio-cultural conditions of Adivasi communities. His contributions span both international publications and regional writings, all focusing on amplifying the voices and experiences of the Cholanaickan community.

Alyssa Crittenden, University of Nevada, USA

Alyssa Crittenden is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Her research spans biological, nutritional, and cultural anthropology, with a long-term focus on working with the Hadza hunter-gatherer community of Tanzania. For the past two decades, she has investigated how diet, reproduction, growth, and caregiving practices mediate human adaptation and health in foraging contexts. In 2020, she co-founded the Olanakwe Community Fund with long-time Hadza collaborator Shani Msafiri Mangola. Olanakwe (the Hadzabe word for “children”) is a community-based nonprofit aimed at educational sovereignty for the Hadza, supporting programs initiated by Hadza community members themselves. Through Olanakwe, Crittenden aligns her scholarship with community priorities—emphasizing respectful, reciprocal partnerships and ethical frameworks for collaborative research.

Frans Doeseb, Omaheke San Community Developer & Human/ Land Rights Activists, Namibia

Frans Doeseb is an Indigenous leader and Advocate in Namibia, Omaheke region for better tomorrow for the San people. He is currently working as a volunteer for the San traditional Authorities and is representing the San community on the Resettlement Committee and the Omaheke Communal Land board. He has consistently for over 20 years’ experience of working with Indigenous Peoples’ organizations and human rights in Namibia with strong link to local Governmental organizations networks.

Romain Duda, Center for Evolutionary and Functional Ecology (CEFE/CNRS), France

Romain Duda is an ethnoecologist and anthropologist based in Montpellier, France. Since 2012, he has primarily worked with hunter-gatherer communities in Central Africa, including the Bayaka, Baka, and Batwa. His research focuses on the human–animal interface, with particular attention to hunting practices, health, and zoonotic diseases. He also investigates situated ecological knowledge—among both adults and children—and how it is transformed under the pressures of rapid socio-environmental change. As a photographer and videographer, he is developing research methodologies that incorporate multimedia tools.

Jigar Ganatra, AFRISOS, Tanzania

Jigar Ganatra is an award-winning Tanzanian visionary filmmaker whose ecophilosophical documentaries challenge humanity to rethink our connection to nature. With a deep appreciation for the art of storytelling and a thirst for truth, Jigar has made films with diverse grassroots communities around the world. His long term focus is on the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers living in Tanzania. He has been working with the Hadza for the last 5 years on participatory storytelling aimed at preserving and rejuvenating the cultural richness and ecological diversity that is at the heart of the Hadza community.

Dr. Barry Hewlett, Washington State University, USA

Barry Hewlett is emeritus Professor of Anthropology at Washington State University. He received his PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1987 and has held positions at Tulane University (U.S.), Kyoto University (Japan) and Hawassa University and Arba Minch University (Ethiopia). He has conducted research in Africa since 1973 in the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Gabon, Ethiopia, and Cameroon. He has authored or edited seven books including Intimate Fathers: The Nature and Context of Aka Pygmy Paternal Infant Care; Ebola, Culture, and Politics (with Bonnie Hewlett); Hunter-Gatherer Childhoods (with Michael Lamb); Diverse Contents of Human Infancy, and Social Learning and Innovation in Contemporary Hunter-Gatherers (with Hideaki Terashima). He has also published over 100 journal articles and book chapters in a wide range of disciplines including biology, sociology, developmental psychology, public health, tropical medicine, and genetics.

Dr. Noa Lavi, University of Haifa, Israel

Noa Lavi is a social anthropologist whose research focuses on childhood, education, and adult–child relations among indigenous and marginalised societies. She works in South India with the Nayaka people, historically classified as hunter-gatherers, since 2010. Her broader research interests include the anthropology of aid and development, storytelling, cultural heritage, social-emotional learning and alternative education. Alongside her academic work, she supports teachers in forming formal education programs that respect local cultures and align with community values. She is also a trained Forest School Leader engaged in fostering Nature-Based Learning in various formal and informal educational settings.

Dr. Seetha Kakkoth, Kannur University, India

Seetha Kakkoth is a Social Anthropologist currently affiliated with Kannur University. Her research engages with the intersections of hunter-gatherer societies, education, and aging, exploring how social structures, cultural practices, and policy frameworks shape the experiences of indigenous communities within a broader and critical anthropological framework.

Dr. Sheina Lew-Levy, Durham University, UK

Sheina Lew-Levy conducts research in hunter-gatherer societies by using methods from anthropology and psychology to understand the cultural diversity in, and evolution of, social learning in childhood. Specifically, she uses quantitative and qualitative methods to study how and from whom children learn through meaningful participation in every day activities. She co-founded and co-directs Forager Child Studies, an interdisciplinary research team, focusing on forager children’s learning. Since 2016, she works with egalitarian BaYaka foragers and their farmer neighbours in the Congo Basin.

Kate Matzopoulos, University of Bath, UK

Kate Matzopoulos is a PhD candidate in the Department of Education at the University of Bath. Her research explores decolonising education through Indigenous knowledge systems. She is currently working in collaboration with a Ju/’hoansi community in Nhoma, Namibia, to co-create a curriculum rooted in their onto-epistemologies. With a background in theatre education, Kate is passionate about creative and unconventional research dissemination, using artistic and participatory methods to challenge traditional academic structures. Alongside her research, she serves as co-chair of the Decolonising Education Collective (DEC) at the university.

Sarah Mmari, Mwenge Catholic University, Tanzania

Sarah Mmari is an assistant lecturer at the Tengeru Institute of Community Development in Tanzania and a PhD candidate (2021–2025) in Educational Planning and Administration at Mwenge Catholic University. Her research focuses on the Hadzabe of Tanzania, where she investigates how cultural, socioeconomic, and geographical factors influence access to education. She examines how structural and cultural contexts shape children’s school enrolment and learning opportunities. Since 2021, she has collaborated with Hadzabe community members in Karatu, Mbulu, and Mkalama districts to document perceptions of schooling and to advance culturally responsive and inclusive educational practices.

Fadilla Mutiarawati, Sokola Institue & University of Oulu, Finland

Fadilla Mutiarawati has been working with Indigenous communities in Indonesia for over 20 years, focusing on education, literacy, and integrating Indigenous knowledge into formal education. As a PhD candidate at the University of Oulu, her research focuses on participatory action research with primary school teachers in West Sumba, Indonesia. Together with local educators, she develops culturally responsive literacy learning modules that connect classroom activities to children’s cultural and ecological contexts.

Ernesto Noriega, OrigiNations, Germany

Ernesto Noriega has collaborated for over thirty years with Indigenous groups and organizations in Asia, Africa and the Americas. These partnerships have consisted mainly in accompanying youth in their efforts to protect the integrity of their lands, safeguard their cultural heritage, and advance the welfare and the rights of their communities. This work has included cooperation with the BaAka of the Central African Republic and the Hai//om of Namibia. He is co-founder of OrigiNations, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of these objectives.

Tatjana Puschkarsky, OrigiNations, Germany

Tatjana Puschkarsky is a co-founder of OrigiNations, an NGO offering social spaces for Indigenous youth to strengthen their own capacities and develop strategies to support their communities. She has worked with hunter-gatherer and other Indigenous communities in Africa and Latin America for more than 15 years. The NGO facilitates initiatives to safeguard the Indigenous communities’ cultural and natural heritage, promote intergenerational knowledge transmission, and design alternative education models and materials adapted to their own culture. With a background in political sciences and education, Tatjana has a keen interest in hunter-gatherer ways of learning and the beneficial effects these could have on all children.

Man Bahadur Shahu, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Man Bahadur Shahu teaches Social Anthropology at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. His research concentrates on reciprocity, sharing, resistance, and the reproduction of knowledge, as well as social learning, indigenous knowledge, land ownership, and folklore related to the Raute, a nomadic hunter-gatherer community in Nepal. Currently, his research explores the history and memory of the hunter-gatherer Raute. He has also conducted ethnographic fieldwork on other indigenous and Dalit communities, including the
Danuwar, Tharu, and Gandharva, in Nepal.

Bashiru Salifu, University of Manitoba, Canada

Bashiru Salifu is a PhD Candidate in Peace and Conflict Studies at the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice, University of Manitoba, Canada. Current doctoral research project (2024-2028) “Recognition and Participation after Legal Victory: The Ogiek Community’s Struggle for Political Space in Kenya” focuses on how Ogiek advocacy organizations frame Ogiek struggles-through indigenous rights, constitutional language, and environmental stewardship-and what tensions arise in using these discursive strategies. He holds a master of philosophy in Indigenous Studies and a master of philosophy in Peace and Conflict Transformation from the Arctic University of Norway.

Dr. Akira Takada, Kyoto University, Japan

Akira Takada is Professor in the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies at Kyoto University, Japan. He has worked with/among groups of the San of southern Africa (particularly !Xun and ǂAkhoe in Namibia, G|ui and Gǁana in Botswana) since late 1990s. His academic interests include caregiver-child interaction and language socialization. He started these studies with infants and toddlers, and recently became interested in conducting action research with school-age children.