John Connell is Professor of Human Geography in the University of Sydney, New South Wales. He has a PhD from University College London, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia and of the NSW Geographical Society. He was previously a Research Officer at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, and in the Department of Economics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. He has been a consultant to the International Labour Organisation, the World Health Organisation, the South Pacific Commission, SPREP, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Organisation of Migration. His research focuses on development in small island states, including those in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean, centered on migration and remittances, rural development and coral atolls.
Kristen Lowitt is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Brandon University. Her research utilizes participatory and community-based approaches to understand the relationships between food security, natural resource management, and communities in rural and coastal contexts. She has undertaken research in the Global North and South. She is also a previous Fellow on the Council on the Future of Food Security and Agriculture, World Economic Forum.