Julia Davies

Julia Davies, PhD, is a Research Scientist in the Arizona Institute for Resilience (AIR). She works specifically on the Climate Adaptation Research Program (CARP), which seeks to raise the institutional capacities of universities in the Global South by providing researchers with funding and technical support to conduct localized and applied research on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Julia is primarily responsible for managing CARP in the Africa and Pacific Island regions, in collaboration with partners at Stellenbosch University in South Africa and Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. 
Julia earned her PhD in Geography from the University of Arizona in 2023, with her dissertation focusing on urban food system transformations and governance in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Julia was based at the University of Cape Town’s African Climate and Development Initiative, where she worked as a Senior Research Assistant on the Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions project. Her research portfolio incorporates qualitative and quantitative approaches to studying a variety of topics related to food systems, food security, rural-urban linkages, governance, and climate adaptation in Africa. Julia holds a MSc in Climate and Development and a BSc in Environmental and Geographical Science from the University of Cape Town.