Dr Martha Geiger Mwenitete is an Assistant Professorial Research Fellow and the Strategic Manager at FLIA. She is a transdisciplinary scholar interested in animals, the more-than-human, and multispecies environments. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Warwick and an MA in Geography from the University of Guelph. Her current research focuses broadly on multispecies labour, investigating how humans and other animals can live and work well together in a changing climate. For over a decade, she has studied animal labour, particularly involving donkeys and horses, their human co-workers, and their intertwined well-being in Eastern and Southern Africa.   

Methodologically, she has advanced research practices within animal studies, drawing on animal welfare and ethology to include the perspectives and experiences of animals within social life and to challenge dominant anthropocentric approaches to studying human-animal relations. She has also intervened in the ethical and affective challenges of undertaking multispecies fieldwork. 

As an action-oriented scholar, she has worked collaboratively with animal welfare scientists, veterinarians, ethologists, geographers, sociologists, and anthropologists to produce interdisciplinary projects and outputs to enhance practice and policy. She has been a part of The Lives of Animals Research Group and worked with animal-focused charities such as The UK Donkey Sanctuary and the Maun Animal Welfare Society.  

At the FLIA, she wears two hats, as well as conducting research, she serves as the Institute’s Strategic Manager, working to develop and scale the Institute's profile, impact, and programming. 

Publications:

Geiger, M. (2023). Hoof work: The feminisation of donkeys in central Ethiopia. Sociological Research Online. 29(4): 842-860. 

Geiger, M. (2023). Donkeys are unsung heroes in Ethiopia's humanitarian crisis-they could do even more with better support. The Conversation UK.  

Geiger, M. Hockenhull, J., Buller, H., Engida, G., Getchew, M., Jemal Kedir, M., Goshu, L., Banerjee, A., Burden, F. & Whay, R. (2023). Being with donkeys: Insights into the valuing and wellbeing of donkeys in central Ethiopia. Society & Animals. 32(5-6): 602-630. 

Geiger, M., Hockenhull, J., Buller, H., Engida, G., Getchew, M., Burden, F., & Whay, R. (2021). Comparison of the socio-economic value and welfare of working donkeys in rural and urban Ethiopia. Animal Welfare. 30: 269-277. 

Geiger, M., Hockenhull, J., Buller, H., Engida, G., Getchew, M., Burden, F., & Whay, R. (2020). Understanding the attitudes of communities to the social, economic, and cultural importance of working donkeys in rural and urban areas of Ethiopia. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 60(7): 1-13.  

Geiger, M. (2020). Donkeys' economic and social contribution is urgently undervalued in Ethiopia. Africa at LSE blog. 

Geiger, M. & Hovorka, A., J. (2015). Donkeys in development: welfare assessments and knowledge mobilization. Development in Practice, 25(8):1091-1104.  

Geiger, M. & Hovorka, A., J. (2015). Animal performativity: exploring donkey lives in Botswana. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 33(5):1-19.  

Geiger, M., & Hovorka, A., J. (2015). Using physical and emotional parameters to assess donkey welfare in Botswana. Veterinary Record Open, 2(1):1-7