Abigail Zylla

Abigail's research looks at urban/peri-urban alternative food networks and food security

Profile photo of PhD student Abigail Zylla
PhD student Abigail Zylla

email: abigail.zylla@vuw.ac.nz

Supervisors:  Dr Julia Talbot-Jones and Dr. Nayantara Sheoran-Appleton

Profile

For over fifteen years, Abigail has worked across a range of academic, public service, non-profit and community-organisation sectors in the United States, United Kingdom, Fiji and Aotearoa. Many of these projects have involved bringing a critical anthropology lens to her work in community-based conservation and development spaces – in particular, investigating and navigating micro-politics and social dynamics within and between formal and informal institutions.

Qualifications

  • Masters of Philosophy in Environment, Society and Development  –  University of Cambridge, UK (2013)
    • Dissertation: Engaging with ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Identity’: A study of Community-based Conservation and Sustainable Development in Fiji)
  • Fulbright Research Scholar –  Fiji (2010-2011)
  • Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology  – University of Georgia, USA (2010
    • Minors: Women’s Studies, Human Geography, Comparative Religion
  • Certificates: Global Issues, Environmental Ethics

Research interests

Given the current vulnerabilities of both domestic and international food systems, Abigail is interested in exploring how Alternative Food Networks (AFNs) can provide critical insights into food security issues within local contexts. Her research seeks to investigate processes and dynamics within and around urban and peri-urban AFNs, in order to better understand how they operate, the challenges they face and whether they might inform practical policy initiatives aimed at enhancing food system resilience and equity. This research will be guided by the Social-Ecological Systems framework, and will also incorporate analytical lenses from Political Ecology, Critical Food Studies and Critical Policy Studies. Her mixed-methods approach will include in-depth qualitative case studies investigating micropolitics of and around particular AFN initiatives.