Chantal Victoria Bright

PhD Candidate in Geography (Human)

Research entitled “Women, Water Security, and Peace in Liberia: An African Ecofeminist Perspective” Supervised by Dr Alison Browne (Primary), Dr Jonathan Huck and Dr Laura Mcleod .

Research Interests: Water and Sanitation Access, Water and Peace, Women and Water, Gendered Peacebuilding,  Feminist Research, Afro-feminism, Fragility and Conflict-affected Situations, Gender-based Violence, Environmental Justice, Liberian Studies, West Africa.

PhD research support in-part by:

1. Leverhulme Study Abroad Studentship (2022-2023)
2. Northwest Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) Placement Scheme
3. Turing Scheme
4. John Rylands Research Institute and Library /John W. Kluge Center at The Library of Congress PhD Fellowship
5. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) - Frederick Soddy Postgraduate Award and Frederick Soddy Trust

Chantal Victoria Bright is a first-generation Liberian American. Due to the civil wars in Liberia, her family sought refuge in the United States where she grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has seven years' experience working in rule of law in Washington, DC. In 2013, she moved to London where she has worked in legal services and academia as a researcher. In 2017, she published the children’s book Janjay--on clean water sanitation set in Liberia, which captured the attention of the U.S. State Department-Africa Regional Services Nouveaux Horizons. Janjay has since been translated to French, Janjay, La petite porteuse d’leau by the U.S. State Department and is marketed in French-speaking Africa, Haiti, and distributed to American embassies to support programmes. The sequel, Janjay goes Upriver was released in June 2021 and is contracted to also be translated into French by the U.S. State Department. 

Chantal holds a master's degree in Environmental Management from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in English and Political Science (dual course) from Seton Hall University. 

• (February - June 2022) GEOG30552 De-Colonising Geographies 
• (September 2021 - January 2022)  GEOG10251 Introducing Human Geographies 1
• (September 2021 - January 2022) MGDI60391 The Politics and Governance of Development
• (February - June 2021) GEOG31012 De-colonising Geographies: Theory, Methods, Praxis 
• (February - June 2021) GEOG12012 Tutorials and Profile of a Research Geographer 

• Widening Participation Fellow 2020-21 at Manchester. WP Fellows develop and deliver activities to inspire and engage school and college students from across Greater Manchester. 
• Doing Environmental Research – Delivered a Talk, Learning from the Veteran’s Session. (February 2021, March 2022)

Member, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Member, Historical Society of Liberia 

Member, Global Water Alliance 

Member, American Association of Geographers

Member, Sustainable Consumption Institute

Member, Environmental Peacebuilding Association

Member, Royal African Society

Member, Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security

Missing Peace Scholar, The Missing Peace Initiative is a project of The United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), and Women In International Security. It brings together expert scholars to examine the issue of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings, identify gaps in knowledge and reporting and explore how to increase the effectiveness of current responses to such violence.

The School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED),Social Responsibility Catalyst Fund - Awarded £2,500 to facilitate social responsibility project which address period poverty for school aged girls in Liberia. The fund is used to produce over 800 sustainable reusable pads to keep girls from missing one week of school every month due to unaffordable sanitation pads. The fund also supports the salaries of women entrepreneur seamstress who locally produce sustainable pads.

2022 Making A Difference Award Winner for the category of “outstanding contribution to social innovation and environmental impact.” 

Manchester Doctoral College Execellence Award for Best Contribution to Internationalisation 2021-22

2022 Graduate Student Affinity Group (GSAG) Research and Support Award, American Association of Geographers (AAG) 1 of 6 recipients.