Professor Niki J.P. Alsford
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Niki Alsford is a Professor of Anthropology and Human Geography and Director of the Institutes for the Study of the Asia Pacific (ISAP) and the Institute for Area and Migration Studies here. He is also a Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, and an Associate Member of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford.
Additionally, he is a Chartered Geographer with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), where he is also a Fellow, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Royal Asiatic Society.
Professor Alsford is an established Explorer at the Explorers' Club, being a member of the Britain & Ireland Chapter. His research focuses primarily on traditional knowledge and the understanding of climate change and biodiversity loss within the Pacific region. Through this work, he has sought to highlight the impacts of ecological change on Asia-Pacific communities and explore how these communities have adapted to and coped with such challenges.
Professor Alsford is keen on supervising proposals related to Taiwan and the wider Pacific Ocean. Additionally, he welcomes proposals focused on subsistence farmers in Papua New Guinea and research on Korea, particularly Korean shamanism and the Jeju Island Haenyeo (women sea divers). He is also interested in supervising students exploring the relationship between volcanoes and myths.
- Director of Institutes for the Study of the Asia Pacific (ISAP)
- PhD Historical Anthropology, SOAS, the University of London 2015
- MA Asia Pacific Studies, National Chengchi University, 2011
- Bsc (Hons) Applied Social Science (Anthropology/Criminology), University of Southampton, 2006
- Ralph Brown Expedition Award, RGS-with IBG, 2024
- Chartered Geographer, RGS-with IBG, 2024
- North American Taiwan Professors Association (NATPA), 2018
- Anthropology
- Human Geography
- Editor-in-Chief, Asia Pacific Viewpoint, since 2022
- Fellow of the Explorers Club, Great Britain & Ireland Chapter, since 2021
- REF Unit of Assessment Lead for Area Studies
- Country of Origin Expert (Taiwan), AMERA International, since 2020
- Country of Origin Expert (North Korea), AMERA International, since 2020
- Country of Origin Expert (Pacific Islands), AMERA International, since 2020
- Nominated Fellow of Royal Anthropological Institute, since 2019
- Editorial Board Member, Asian Institute of Research, since 2018
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Since 2017
- Book Series Editor, BRILL Series in Taiwan Studies, (Leiden: BRILL), since 2017
- Book Series Editor, Routledge Korean Series (London: Routledge), since 2019
- Editorial Board Member, World Journal of Social Science Research (WJSSR), since 2016
- Editorial Board Member, Asian Social Science (ASS), since 2016
- United Nations Country of Origin Expert (Taiwan), International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) – since 2015
- Nominated Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society since 2013
- Ewha Global Fellow of the Ewha Womans University, 2023
Telephone:+44 (0)1772 894137
Email: Email:Professor Niki J.P. Alsford
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