Dr. Timothy A. Balag’kutu is a lecturer of Peace and Security in the Center for Peace and Security Research, University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) in Ghana. Prior to that he was Deputy Director of Research with the Institute for Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, and Adjunct Lecturer in Babson College’s History and Society Division. He is a researcher/scholar, and governance expert with diverse expertise and extensive professional experience with various research and policy institutions.
Tim has a strong and extensive multidisciplinary training, expertise and experience. He holds a PhD in Global Governance and Human Security from McCormack School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston. He has two Masters’ degrees from Ohio University, one in International Affairs and the other in Political Science. His Bachelor’s degree is in Political Science and Swahili from University of Ghana, Legon, and he also studied in University of Dar es Salaam on a Government of Ghana Language Proficiency and Cultural Immersion Fellowship. He is also a recipient of various research awards, including the inaugural Africa Scholars Forum’s Ambassador Fatima Kyari Mohammed African Unity Scholarship Award in University of Massachusetts, Boston. He is currently a Research Fellow and Early Career Committee member with the Earth System Governance Network and represents Earth System Governance on the Future Earth Early Career Researchers Network of Networks Council. He also serves on the Future Earth Horizon Scanning Editorial Board, ORCID Researcher Advisory Council, Editorial Advisory Board of the Canadian Journal of African Studies, and Editorial Committee of the forthcoming Special Issue on South-South Initiative of the Earth System Governance Journal.
Tim’s research interests straddle environmental and natural resource governance, and include, a variety of subjects centered on governance systems, informality, and human security within the postcolonial state context. His regional focus is Africa. His research has appeared in The Extractive Industries and Society; Routledge Handbook of Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding (2018); A Research Agenda for Global Environmental Politics (Edward Elgar, 2018); Corporate Social Responsibility and Canada’s Role in Africa’s Extractive Sectors (University of Toronto Press, 2019); African Studies Quarterly, Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, and other forthcoming publications from various outlets. His current research is on the nexus between environment, climate, security and peace, as well as indigenous philosophy, knowledge, and practice in policy and governance processes of the state in postcolonial Africa.