Ms.
Margot
Hill
PhD Student
Tel.: 022 379 0638
Curriculum vitae
07.09.1981 - Bern, Switzerland
Citizen of Switzerland and Great Britain
Current Position
Since April 2008, PhD student within the Climate Group of Martin Beniston at the University of Geneva:
NCCR Climate
- Charaterising adaptive capacity in water governance arrangements in the context of extreme events: Cases of the Rhone Basin in the Canton Valais, Switzerland and Aconcagua Basin in Region V, Chile.
Research Interests
- Key Words: Climate change, mountain freshwater resources, adaptive capacity, resilience.
- My research focus is on the adaptation of water governance systems to climate related extreme events in two contrasting mountain watersheds (Aconcagua, Chile & Rhone, Switzerland). It is drawing on theories of good governance, adaptive governance and adaptative capacity in order to better understand the influence that different governance arrangements may have on the adaptive capacity of the relevant water governance frameworks. Case studeies of extreme events serve as the context in which to explore the governance system’s ability to cope with shocks, that is, using extremes as a proxy for assessing adaptive capacity to events that might become more recurrent or intense in a future, warmer world.
- Key Research Questions include:
- How do governance regimes (and mechanisms within these regimes) facilitate adaptive capacity in the water sector?
- How do the regimes and mechanisms differ across spatial and temporal scales (e.g., responding to rapid changes v. slow onset events)?
Professional Experience
Jun 2010 - Ongoing
Project Assistant: United Nations Environmental Programme - Finance Initiative (UNEP-FI)
Role: Working in a part time capacity on the Water & Finance Workstream and the Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services Workstream.
Aug 2007 - 2009
Consultant Research Analyst (Energy & Emissions); Asset4, Zug, Switzerland.
Role: Clarified and set guidelines for 200+ analysts on how to interpret company reporting as well as GRI and GHG protocol guidelines for energy and emissions data.
Dec 2007 - Feb 2008
Research Assistant; Centre for Development and Environment, Bern University, Switzerland
Role: To write a paper (Reducing vulnerablity to climate change in the Swiss Alps) on climate policy and mountain development for publication in a scientific journal.
Jan 2007 - Apr 2007
Associate, The Life Incubator, London, UK
Role: Worked part time during my master's degree, assisting the Investment Director to manage the investment pipeline, ensuring that investor expectations are met and managed investor-client conversations.
Feb 2004 – Sept 2006
Xchanging, Financial Services, London & Frankfurt
Role: Graduate position, managing internal and external communications projects as well as change communication programmes for the transformation outsourcing partnership with Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany. - Responsible for managing a local team of 4 to support the pioneering of new opportunities, managing stakeholder campaigns, building a market presence, relationships and the brand within the German market. Moved into a business analyst role, researching companies for potential transformational outsourcing opportunities.
Internships
Xchanging, London 2002
Hastings Observer Newspaper, Hastings, UK, 1999Hastings Observer Newspaper, Hastings, UK, 1999
The Times Newspaper, London 1999The Times Newspaper, London 1999
BBC Sport, London 1998BBC Sport, London 1998
Education
2006 - 2007 Imperial College, London, UK.
MSc Environmental Technology
Global Environmental Change and Policy: Environmental law, economics & policy, ecology, risk management & statistics
Thesis: Stakeholder responses to climate change in the Swiss Alps (In collaboration with ETH, Zürich and NCCR North - South, Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern)
2000 – 2003 University of Cambridge, UK.
2.1 BA Hons, Classics
B.A. Thesis: The appropriation of the Parthenon as a symbol of democracy by the West
1995 – 2000 Roedean School, Brighton, UK.
Awards & Achievements
Resilience Alliance Young Scholar 2011 (RAYS)
Arkelton Trust Award for MSc Thesis
Global Humanitarian Forum, Youth Forum Climate Agent
Introduction to Analysis of Financial Statements, BPP, London
Captain of the Cambridge University Ladies 2nd Tennis Team
Academic and Music Scholarship, Roedean School
Sports Awards/Scholarship, Roedean School
Languages
English (Native), French (Advanced), Germand (Advanced), Swiss German (Advanced), Spanish (Basic).
Publications & Research Papers
Beniston, M., Stoffel, M., Hill, M. (In Press) "Impacts of climatic change on water and natural hazards in the Alps: can current water governance cope with future challenges? Examples from the European "ACQWA" project." Environmental Science and Policy, Special Issue: Climate change and water.
Hill, M. (2011) Characterising adaptive capacity in water governance arrangements in the context of extreme events. In Leal Filho, W. (ed) " Climate Change and the Sustainable Management of Water Resources”, in press. Springer Verlag, Berlin.
Hill. M (2010) Assessing adaptive capacity of water governance regimes under climatic uncertainty, Featured in Hydrocomplexity: New Tools for Solving Wicked Water Problems, IAHS Publication 338.
Mulder, I., Hill, M. (2010) Liquidity Squeeze. Environmental Finance, September 2010.
Hill, M., Mulder, I., Grigg, A., Cullen, Z., Foxall, J. (2010) The Ecosystem Services Benchmark. Ökologisches Wirtschaften, No. 3.
Hill, M. (2010) Converging Threats: Assessing socio-economic and climate impacts on water governance, International Journal of Climate Change Management and Strategies. Vol 2 (3), 242-263.
Hill, M., Wallner, A., Furtado, J. (2010) Reducing vulnerability to climate change in the Swiss Alps: A study of adaptive planning, Journal of Climate Policy, Vol 10 (1), pp 70-86.
Hill, M. (2007) Stakeholder Responses the Climate Change in the Swiss Alps, MSc Thesis, Centre for Environmental Policy, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Imperial College, London.
Conference Papers & Presentations
Global Change and the World’s Mountains, Presentation on ‘Assessing adaptive governance to manage climatic uncertainty in the context of 2 mountain basins: Case studies from the Aconcagua Basin, Chile & Rhone Basin’, Switzerland’, 26-30 September, Perth, Scotland.
ACQWA General Assembly 2010, Presentation on ‘Assessing adaptive capacity of water governance regimes under climatic uncertainty’, 22-24 September, 2010, Dundee, Scotland.
World Water Week, Workshop 7 ‘Resilience, Uncertainty and Tipping Points’, Presentation on ‘Incorporating Uncertainty to Climate Change into Governance Assessments: Lessons Learnt from 2 case studies in the Alps and Andes’, 5-10 September 2010, Stockholm, Sweden.
ENSEMBLES Workshop on the Socio-Economic Drivers of Climate Change, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Presentation on ‘Drivers of Change in 2 Mountain Basins’, 11-12 December 2009, Venice, Italy.
Global Humanitarian Forum Annual Meeting, Presentation from the Youth Forum at the Third Plenary, 23-24 June 2009, Geneva, Switzerland.
ACQWA General Assembly 2009, Presentation on ‘Results from the Swiss Valais Governance Assessment’, 27-29 September 2009, Courmayeur, Italy.
Hill, M. (2009) The Human Face of Climate Change: Seeing the Circle, Presented at the Global Humanitarian Forum ‘Young Adults 4 New Results, 17-19 June 2009, Available at www.youthforum2009.org/YouthForum2009/TheIdeas/tabid/373/Default.aspx, Geneva, Switzerland.
Hill, M. (2009) Converging Threats: Assessing socio-economic and climate impacts on water governance, Climate 2009 Conference, 2-6 November 2009, Available at: www.klima2009.net/en/pap.
Hill, M., Egerton, C. (2009) The Influence of Political Culture on Water Governance Arrangements: A Cross-Country Comparison (Switzerland, Chile, Portugal), Presented at IHDP Open Meeting 2009, 26-30th April 2009, Bonn, Germany.
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