Joshua Amponsah

Joshua Amponsah is an environmental justice scholar, climate scientist, writer, and documentary filmmaker. His works explore key themes, including community perspectives on conservation, human-wildlife interactions, and the impact of global climate financing in Africa. His research work includes extensive fieldwork in Ghana and Kenya. His master’s thesis, titled, Beyond the Green Curtain: Land Rights and Conservation Conflicts in Africa, explores the impacts of conservation conflicts on both humans and the environment. His documentary, titled Mizani: Balancing People and Nature, presents the dynamics of conservation conflicts in Ghana and Kenya and offers pathways to reimagine conservation efforts in Africa. He received the award for outstanding graduate research on the African Diaspora at the 2025 Stoling Celebration of the Afro-American Cultural Center at Yale. He pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Political Studies and History at Ghana's prestigious Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. After completing his undergraduate studies, he dedicated his time as a Teaching and Research Assistant. His academic journey led him to serve as a Research Assistant on a collaborative project with the University of Melbourne. In 2025, he received his master’s degree in African studies at Yale University. Joshua is presently a Fox fellow at the University of Cape Town, researching how ecological sustainability can be reconciled with social justice in Southern Africa, with the support of Yale University. He is currently working on a photo book that explores conservation conflicts in Africa. Joshua believes that sustainable climate solutions must strike a balance between human needs and the preservation of non-human life.