Nicholas is an early career researcher and practitioner with a background in political economy, geography, and anthropology. He is currently funded by the Leverhulme Foundation, leading a project entitled: “Green Transition Risks.”

He is currently working on research and policy ideas on the social and ecological risks linked to the drive for critical minerals required for the green/energy transition.

His work adopts a mixed methods approach, with ethnography-inspired qualitative methods combined with digital and artificial intelligence processing. Nicholas also has a track record as a strategist and practitioner, co-designing designing communications, analysis, and policy interventions with diverse stakeholders in Latin America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the UK, EU, and Australia.

He completed his PhD in the Department of Development Studies at SOAS University of London in Development Studies in 2020. His thesis examined the development functions of militia groups in urban Brazil.

Before joining King’s, Nicholas was a postdoctoral fellow at SOAS University of London on the GCRF Drugs and Dis/order project, as well as working in consulting roles in the international development sector.

Research

• Armed groups and critical mineral extraction in forest frontiers
• Geopolitics of critical minerals
• Critical mineral supply chains
• Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting of critical minerals

Teaching

• Globalisation, Development, and the Americas

Publications

• "Surviving and dying through the urban frontier: Everyday life, social brokerage and living with militias in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone", Urban Studies.
• "Militias going rogue: Social dilemmas and coercive brokerage in Rio de Janeiro's urban frontier", Journal of International Development.
• "Will Brazil Destroy the Amazon to Save the Climate?", Foreign Policy.
• "Como mulheres conseguiram conter poder da milícia em área dominada do RJ", BBC News [feature].