Fergus O’Leary Simpson is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp’s Institute of Development Policy (IOB). His research focusses on the intricacies between environmental conservation, natural resource conflicts and armed mobilisation in eastern DRCongo. He currently teaches on courses covering culture, agency and development; and local institutions and poverty reduction at IOB. He defended his PhD at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam, in the Netherlands on 03 October 2022.