The New Eden: Life in Human Landscapes

JC Niala is an award-winning writer, environmental historian and anthropologist specialising in human- nature interactions. She adeptly combines scientific research, personal reflection, and storytelling to engage readers with the natural world. Her optimistic outlook shines through her work, bringing a fresh and inspiring perspective to nature writing. JC routinely writes about interactions with nature in essays, online journals, and book chapters about allotments and allotmenteering. In 2024, she already had two nature writing essays published in This Allotment edited by Sarah Rigby and Going to Ground edited by Jon Woolcot. She has also been on BBC's 'The Conversation' and 'Thinking Allowed'. She wrote and narrated the nature podcast series 'The Root of the Matter' with Wellcome Collection. She has appeared on panels at The Garden Museum, London, The Old Fire Station in Oxford and will be participating in Edinburgh International Book Festival including where she'll be interviewing Olivia Laing, Chiswick Book Festival and Chelsea History Festival. JC works as the Head of Research, Teaching and Collections at the History of Science Museum, University of Oxford. JC lives in Oxford and Nairobi – and has lived in other cities including London and San Francisco.