Dr. Anne Ouma was born and raised in the eastern Lake Victoria Region of Africa. As a scholar, Anne is motivated to work and build on understandings between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples through story- telling, listening, research, writing and teaching. Anne is an economic and social cultural geographer with a specialization in ethnobotanical knowledge and critical research with indigenous societies and communities. She looks at geographies of indigenous ethnobotany, socio-spatial transformation, socio-cultural determinants of health and work with plant based therapeutic methods.
In her current assignments as a professional adviser on international evaluation of programs, Anne support and guide companies and organizations on practical tools in evaluating social, environment and economic sustainability as an integral part of programming.
Anne has extensive experience in research, programming and technical capacity building, policy and diplomatic advisory work within international development practice. Anne has worked and advised for the United Nations in several countries in Africa and South East Asia, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Kenyan and Ugandan Governments. Thematic areas include: environmental (biodiversity), social sustainability and economic sustainability, gender and development research, diplomacy, conflict mitigation and resolution, indigenous ethnobotanical knowledge systems.
Dr. Anne Ouma presented her Ph.D thesis in 2013 at the Department of Geography and Economic History, Umeå University, Sweden; From Rural Gift to Urban Commodity. Traditional Medicinal Knowledge and Social Spatial Transformation in the Eastern Lake Victoria Region.