Tom Walker

Researcher: Climate, Environment and Human Rights

12 years’ experience in research and strategy on climate, environment and human rights issues, working with organisations including Rainforest Foundation Norway, Open Society Foundations, Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment, Bloomberg and the BBC.

Location
Brighton, United Kingdom
Email
Website
https://tomwalker.fyi

Experience

– present

Independent Consultant at Self-employed

Consultancy on environment, land and human rights issues, alongside a period of extended parental leave.

Highlights

  • Projects include analysis of satellite imagery on forest loss in Indonesia (for an investigation by AFP and The Gecko Project) and strategy advice for a supply chain monitoring start-up.

–

Head of Research and Operations at The Gecko Project

Senior role conducting research and managing relationships for this nonprofit, which publishes in-depth research/investigations on climate issues in South-East Asia with major media outlets.

Highlights

  • Led or contributed to research on deforestation, certification schemes (FSC/RSPO/RMI), regulation (CSDDD/EUDR), transition minerals (tin/nickel), peatland restoration, biomass and food security — wrote and edited award-winning analysis on these topics.
  • Created a strategy to engage APPGs, sustainability bodies and consumer goods firms on deforestation, resulting in a letter to the Overseas Territories Minister from the APPG on Sustainable Finance, inclusion in a joint NGO statement, and eight major firms dropping deforesters from their supply chains.
  • Produced award-winning research on palm oil smallholdings, followed by an Indonesian government audit, a petition with 130,000 signatures, and multiple statements from local officials.
  • Presented policy implications of research to government, industry and academic audiences of c.60 people at a time, in-person and online. Engaged with Sinar Mas, RGE, Wilmar, Sime Darby, Unilever, PepsiCo, government officials, the RSPO, FSC, Proforest and Earthworm Foundation.
  • Project-managed delivery of seven complex investigations with media including Bloomberg, El País, Süddeutsche Zeitung, ICIJ and public broadcasters in Germany & Finland. Line-managed a reporter and consultants (lawyers, reporters, designers, technologists).
  • Collaborated with CSOs (Mighty Earth, Greenpeace) on campaigning/policy work. Mentored journalists across Asia for Earth Journalism Network's award-winning special project on soil health.

–

Researcher at Ada Lovelace Institute

Led fieldwork, research design and write-up for a research project examining the ethics of a UK council’s use of AI to identify vulnerable individuals, in collaboration with UCL.

Highlights

  • Coordinated a four-person team, including a data scientist and two post-doctoral UCL anthropologists, to collect and analyse data. Produced an in-depth report with findings and policy implications.
  • Managed relationships with partners (UCL) and stakeholders (Barking & Dagenham Council). Created project management processes, including defining MoUs and leading internal project comms.
  • Findings were included in Ada's submission to the Public Accounts Committee, and informed recommendations for a national taskforce for government AI procurement.

–

Learning Specialist at Hivos

Senior role in a cross-organisation team of strategy and innovation specialists, providing in-house consultancy to help this 300-person nonprofit implement new ways of working in its environmental/human rights projects.

Highlights

  • Advised 15 teams across Asia, Africa and Latin America on strategy, facilitation and project design, receiving an average feedback score of 5.5 out of 6. Projects included All Eyes on the Amazon (a coalition focused on reducing deforestation) and a food systems change initiative in Southern Africa.
  • Led facilitation of a two-day, 30-person workshop to define organisational principles for advocacy.

–

Research Lead at The Engine Room

Co-led research consultancies for this nonprofit, which helps organisations working on environment and human rights issues to use data strategically and responsibly.

Highlights

  • Managed delivery of 12 research and strategy projects for clients including Columbia University, Open Society Foundations (OSF) and the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), with budgets of up to £50k, including evaluations, strategy assessments, guides and evidence reviews.
  • Institute for Development Studies: managed a 1.5-year research project as part of Making All Voices Count with Wits University and Kenyan media organisation Pawa254 on how transparency and accountability initiatives choose technology tools. Synthesised MAVC's research on civil society use of technology and led production of a research communications microsite and podcast.
  • CIVICUS: co-led the research strand of the DataShift programme, supporting the use of citizen-generated data in monitoring the SDGs. Commissioned research teams in Argentina, Tanzania, Kenya and Nepal to analyse the impact of citizen-generated data initiatives in their own countries.
  • ICRC: led a major research report on humanitarian use of messaging apps. Recommendations were included in a foundational text for data protection policy in the humanitarian sector.
  • Open Society Justice Initiative: led research conducting the first global review of the use of technology in legal empowerment worldwide, and presented findings at an international conference.
  • Rainforest Foundation Norway: wrote guides on ESG investment and remote sensing. Open Land Contracts (CCSI): led research on community needs to inform project strategy. National Resource Governance Institute (NRGI): evaluated impact of open data initiatives.
  • Provided on-demand advice and support on project design, digital security and technology strategy to a wide range of smaller civil society organisations in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
  • Line-managed a researcher and intern, and managed up to 11 sub-contractors at a time.

–

Programme Officer, Asia at Electoral Reform International Services

Managed EC-funded democracy support projects in Myanmar, Rwanda and Bolivia for this nonprofit organisation, with budgets totalling more than €450,000. Conducted in-depth research on governance in Myanmar, including a week-long needs assessment mission in Yangon.

–

Asia Editor, Global Risk Analysis at Control Risks

Edited and wrote reports on corruption and political risks in Asia for this leading strategic intelligence firm.

Awards

Finalist - Excellence in Reporting on the Environment from Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA)

Honoree, Multimedia Storytelling from Webby Awards

Honorable Mention - Excellence in Reporting on the Environment (Regional/Local) from Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA)

John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism from Columbia University

TRACE Prize for Investigative Reporting from TRACE

Winner - Excellence in Bahasa Indonesia Reporting from Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA)

Publications

Major EU firms source tin from Indonesian company tainted by corruption by Follow the Money [Co-author]

The Tin Racket: Illegal mining ransacked these Indonesian islands. Tech titans turned a blind eye by The Gecko Project, Follow the Money, Korea Centre for Investigative Journalism, Yle [Co-author]

Insider testimony points to "sustainable" conglomerate as hidden hand behind destruction of rainforest by The Gecko Project and Bloomberg News [Author]

Critical analytics? Learning from the early adoption of data analytics for local authority service delivery by Ada Lovelace Institute [Research project manager and author of first-round data analysis]

Chasing Shadows: Extensive evidence suggests corporation selling "sustainable" palm oil hid control of companies destroying rainforest by The Gecko Project, ICIJ, El País, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Tempo, Follow the Money, De Tijd, NDR and WDR [Co-author and member of reporting team]

Audit finds "tiny percentage" of palm oil companies sharing plantations with communities by The Gecko Project [Author]

Analysis: How do oil palm companies get away with disregarding Indonesian law? by The Gecko Project and New Mandala [Editor]

Promised prosperity, drowning in debt: How palm oil firms gamed a scheme to lift Indonesians out of poverty by The Gecko Project, BBC and Mongabay [Researcher and member of reporting team]

'The promise was a lie': How Indonesian villagers lost their cut of the palm oil boom by The Gecko Project, BBC and Mongabay [Researcher and member of reporting team]

Pandemics, power, and publics: trends in post-crisis health technology by Meatspace Press [Co-author]

Designing and Facilitating Remote Events: A guide by Hivos [Lead author]

Technology for Legal Empowerment: A Global Review by Open Society Justice Initiative [Lead researcher]

Data Use: A Briefing for Development Initiatives' Strategy Process by Development Initiatives [Lead researcher]

Technology in Case Management for Legal Empowerment by Open Society Justice Initiative [Lead researcher]

Sharing Data Responsibly – A Conversation Guide for Funders by Ariadne and 360Giving [Lead researcher]

Rainforest protection and socially responsible investment: A quick-start guide by Rainforest Foundation Norway [Lead researcher]

Alidade, an interactive online tool to help NGOs choose technology tools [Lead researcher]

A lot of civil society organisations have a secret. Their tech projects are failing. What does the research tell us? by Research synthesis for Making All Voices Count [Lead researcher]

Humanitarian Futures for Messaging Apps: Understanding the opportunities and risks by International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [Lead researcher]

Technology tools in human rights by The Engine Room [Interviewer]

A Primer on technology to monitor rainforests and forest peoples' rights by The Engine Room and Rainforest Foundation Norway [Lead researcher]

Choosing technology in Kenyan and South African transparency and accountability initiatives by Making All Voices Count (Institute of Development Studies) [Co-author and project manager]

DatNav: Guide to Navigating Digital Data in Human Rights Research by The Engine Room, Benetech and Amnesty International [Interviewer]

A Movements Perspective on Transparency and Accountability by Transparency and Accountability Initiative [Co-author]

Microtasking: Uses for human rights monitoring by Amnesty International [Lead researcher]

Three reports on the impact of citizen-generated data in Argentina, East Africa and Nepal by DataShift, CENIT, Local Interventions Group, et al [Commissioning editor]

Responsible Data in the Donor Community by The Engine Room [Co-author]

The Rise of Greek civil society by The Guardian [Co-author]

Talks and interviews

The Role of Corruption & Secrecy in Destroying the Planet , Offshore Alert [Interviewee]

Data and Computational Journalism Conference Indonesia [Speaker]

Access to Justice and Technology Summit , DLA Piper and PILnet [Speaker]

Reimagining Digital Humanitarianism , Goldsmiths, University of London [Speaker]

How to Counter the Backlash Against Beneficial Ownership & Public Procurement Transparency , International Anti-Corruption Conference [Panellist]

Open and Shut [Speaker]

ICT4D London (on messaging apps) [Speaker]

A Double-Edged Sword: Using ICT to Monitor or Investigate Human Rights , European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation [Interviewee]

The Recompiler podcast [Interviewee]

Blogs

How Small Data Can Improve Access to Justice for the Poor , Open Society Justice Initiative [With Matthew Burnett]

How to make research used and useful — We've been experimenting , Making All Voices Count

Talking About Responsible Data: A Conversation Guide for Human Rights Funders , Ariadne [With Fieke Jansen]

The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs of Choosing an M&E Platform , ICTWorks [With Tania Lee, Laura Walker McDonald (SIMLab) and Lynnae Day]

Evaluating the Personal Privacy Objections to Public Beneficial Ownership Registries , Global Anti-Corruption Blog [With Adriana Edmeades-Jones]

Sharing data responsibly – how and why do human rights funders share data? , 360Giving [With Fieke Jansen]

Human Rights Documentation research diary #1 , The Engine Room

Human Rights Documentation research diary #2 , The Engine Room

Human Rights Documentation research diary #3 , The Engine Room

Education

–

MA in Imperial and Commonwealth History from King's College London with GPA of Distinction

–

BA in History from Durham University with GPA of First Class Honours

Languages

English
Fluency: C2
French
Fluency: B2

Skills

Data analysis & visualisation
Level:
Keywords:
  • Python
  • SQL
  • Power BI
  • NVivo
  • Excel
  • Datawrapper
  • Flourish
Project & collaboration tools
Level:
Keywords:
  • Version control (Git)