Our Team

Programme Director at SIANI

Madeleine has a broad background within the educational field. She has worked extensively with programme development, information dissemination, capacity development and adult learning in Southern Africa since 1993. Her experiences with capacity development ranges from illiterate women in remote rural areas to politicians at central positions. She has contributed to the development of a bilateral rural water supply and eco-sanitation programme for Austria in Mozambique. Experiences generated in the field have transformed into national strategies vital for Mozambique's achievement of the MDG's. From 2007 to 2011, Madeleine managed the extensive Sida financed Ecological Sanitation Research programme at the SEI.

Project Manager at SIANI

Currently the project coordinator of Focali (Forest, Climate and Livelihood Research Network) and project coordinator of LARRI (Land Rights Research Initiative) working at GMV – Centre for Environment and Sustainability in Gothenburg. Master degree from School of Global Studies and a B.A in Development and International Cooperation, from University of Gothenburg. Master thesis field research about pastoralists’ livelihoods, socio-ecological resilience, climate change and land investments in the Afar region of Ethiopia. Work experience as a research assistant in research project about the role of trees for local livelihoods, resilience and food-security in Burkina Faso. Work experience as communication officer, lecturer in participatory field methods and as a freelance journalist. Has in addition rich work and study experience related to development cooperation from Ethiopia, Tanzania and Vietnam.

Engagement Officer at SIANI

Marta Anguera works at SEI Headquarters as an Engagement Officer. Marta has a background in journalism and communication. She has worked as a communications assistant and officer for civil society organizations as well as international and European institutions. Her experience includes developing communication tools and activities, assisting the communication of partnership and research projects, over-sighting of social media, websites, stakeholder mapping, design of publications and events management. Marta has previously lived in Spain, Austria, Italy, France and Belgium.

Associate at SIANI

Alice Tunfjord is an Associate at SEI Headquarters. She works with MEL and our Expert groups. She has experience from civil society, research institutes and the public sector, including the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Swedish Development Forum, and most recently the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).
Alice holds a MSc in International Development and Management from Lund University, and a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies from Uppsala University. She wrote her master’s thesis on the interplay between formal and informal institutions in the Zambian woodfuel sector.

Part time communications officer at SIANI based at SLU

Maja is a part time communications officer at SIANI based at SLU. She holds a PhD in Medicine, where she studied drug resistance development to antimalarial drugs in Tanzania. Since 2013, her research has focused on virus discovery and characterisation from a vast range of animal species (including coronaviruses in cats and dogs) globally. During the covid-19 pandemic Maja's research has primarily been dedicated to sewage analysis of SARS-CoV2 as part of the newly established Sweden Environmental Epidemiology Center (SEEC). Maja is also Vice-Dean at Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences with responsibilities for equal opportunities. Maja has a borad interest in interdisciplinarity, developmental research, capacity building, equality and infectious diseases.

Part time communications officer at SIANI based at SLU at SIANI

Alin is a part time communication officer at SIANI based at SLU. She holds a PhD in Environmental Social Science, investigating coastal transformation processes in a peri-urban fishing village outside of Mangaluru, India. Alin is a researcher at the Department of Rural and Urban Development, SLU. Her current research explores labour rights in sustainable fishing policy as a global environmental governance mechanism, using Thailand and Myanmar as case studies. Alin has experienced doing research in West Africa, South Asia and South-East Asia. Alin desires to continue addressing the growing questions of sustainability, where the interactions between society and environment require further and in-depth understanding.

Carolina Yang is a Communications Officer at SEI Headquarters. Carolina has worked with projects on sustainable consumption and production, climate change, and agriculture and food systems. Her passion lies in agroforestry, regenerative agriculture, food waste reduction, and sustainable food systems as a whole. Carolina has a M.Sc. in Agroecology from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and a B.Sc. in Forestry and Resource Conservation from National Taiwan University. For her master’s thesis, she studied farmers’ perceptions towards and policies pertaining agroforestry systems in Denmark and southern Sweden.

Communications Advisor at SIANI

Matthew has worked as a field researcher for several years in the Amazon region of South America and in Western Africa. He recently returned to Stockholm after 2.5yrs based in Bangkok. He is responsible for all the communications obligations of SIANI and oversees both web and social media. His research focus has been on interactions between agricultural practice, soil health and livelihoods. He has wide interests linked to these areas in emerging technologies such as biochar and remote sensing and especially their potential in rural capacity development. Matthew has an MSc in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London and a BSc in Tropical Environmental Science from the University of Aberdeen. He is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Part time communications officer (GMV) at SIANI at

Maja Andersson is a part-time Communications Officer at Focali (Forest, Climate and Livelihood Research Network), based at Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development. She has a background in journalism and has worked as an editor and reporter at different Swedish magazines focusing on sustainability issues. Prior to joining Focali, she was coordinating a communications project aiming at raising awareness of climate change in Swedish schools. Alongside working with Focali and SIANI, she handles communication and web at an organic seed company based in western Sweden.

Intern at SIANI

Charlee Salmelin is a student from Uppsala University doing her BSc in Development Studies, currently conducting an internship at SIANI and SEI during the spring of 2023. Charlee is trained in political science and sustainability advisory. Her passion lies in social-ecological issues, specifically environmental policy, in Sub-Saharan Africa. For her bachelor's thesis, she conducted a field study in Eswatini on development projects within Climate Smart Agriculture, disaster risk reduction, and climate change adaptation. Previously, she has been the head of finance in her program student association, worked as a consultant within business advisory, studied in Nairobi, and volunteered in nature reserves in Kenya.