Laura joined ODID in 2001 as Associate Professor of Anthropology and Development, before being made a full Professor in 2020. She has also been an active member of the School of Anthropology (SAME), the Institute of Human Sciences (IHS), and the Latin American Centre (LAC).

At ODID she has developed a unique programme of research and teaching on the anthropology of nature, society and development. The empirically grounded, theoretically oriented, and policy-relevant research she has carried out aims to renew anthropological questions about the relationship between environment and society. Empirically, this work is grounded in ethnographic research with the Huaorani (or Waorani, Ecuadorian Amazon); interdisciplinary research with the Makushi (central Guyana); and policy-oriented research with a number of Central and South American Indigenous and peasant communities.

She has spent many months over the last twenty years with these Indigenous communities in Latin America. She continues to go back, and try, wherever possible, to combine academic research with actions that support the collective rights of Indigenous peoples and that show majority cultures the value of their distinct ways of inhabiting the world. For example, in 2022, she gave expert testimony in a case against Ecuador over its treatment of Indigenous people living in ‘voluntary isolation’, heard at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Brasilia.

Both her writings on the interface between anthropology and interdisciplinarity and her current thinking about the climate emergency explore the ways in which Indigenous and peasant struggles defy received ideas about modernity. By opening the world to new rights and moral claims, they lead to the emergence of novel political subjects and cultural subjectivities.

She has written several books and numerous papers on these topics, including Huaorani transformations in 21st century Ecuador: Treks into the future of time (University of Arizona Press, 2016); Trekking through History: The Huaorani of Amazonian Ecuador (Columbia University Press, 2002); Ecuador’s Yasuní-ITT Initiative (Ecological Economics, 2010); and Governing the Provision of Ecosystem Services with Roldan Muradian (Springer 2012). 

In the past final year at ODID, she has led a series of seminars and masterclasses dedicated to addressing the question ‘How can we respond to this systemic crisis?’, focusing on the challenges of climate change and development, bringing to the fore her years-long research on the anthropology of nature, society and development. 

Laura has also supervised numerous DPhil students. This glowing testimonial is from her current student, Clement Amponsah:

"When I approached Laura about supervising my DPhil, she did not hesitate to support my project, even though my research lay outside her primary regional expertise. At a time when I had exhausted my options within ODID, her willingness to take me on was an extraordinary act of generosity and confidence. Laura’s passion for her work, intellectual curiosity, and commitment to her students have been evident throughout our time working together. She went far beyond conventional supervision, spending nearly a month with me during fieldwork in Northern Ghana, engaging directly with my research, discussing key challenges, connecting with local communities, and supporting the fieldwork through her own research grants. During the thesis-writing stage, her thoughtful feedback, encouragement, and unwavering support have been invaluable, even as I navigate multiple tasks and responsibilities. Laura has consistently encouraged me to think beyond disciplinary boundaries, approach problems with curiosity and confidence, and take ownership of my work as a political economist. I remain deeply grateful for her guidance, kindness, and friendship, and wish her every happiness and success in this well-deserved new chapter."