In memory of Lisa Segnestam (1971–2023)

Dr Lisa Segnestam was a Research Fellow at SEI from 2000 to 2023. Her research focused on gender and social equity, often in the context of poverty alleviation, disaster risk reduction and water governance. She has left a strong legacy in SEI’s approach to research and capacity building, as a committed champion of a norm-critical and intersectional perspective on the role of power and gendered constructions of both individual identities and institutional arrangements.

Lisa worked on several continents, including Europe, China and Latin America. Her PhD research took her to Nicaragua, where she studied vulnerability to drought of poor people living in rural areas. She later conducted post-doctoral research in Costa Rica, on vulnerability to climate change among Indigenous and non-Indigenous women and men. Much of her work in Europe inspired methodological advancements within participatory and co-creation research applied to disaster risk reduction and adaptation.

Whether as an adviser, mentor or collaborator, Lisa was adamant about connecting research to impact and how it can be meaningful for people. She kept reminding us of the need to ask: “Why are we doing this, for whom, and how does it matter?” She enriched our research by looking for the less obvious, seeing and hearing what others did not. Working with Lisa was not only intellectually exciting – her humour and wit were a constant delight.

Lisa lived the same way that she applied approaches and methods in her work. For her, understanding vulnerability was not just a research track, but a way of being. It shone through in her interactions with others, the humility with which she spoke to and listened to others, and her ability to see and acknowledge everyone.

At SEI, we will remember Lisa for the way she helped shape our research and culture, as a valued adviser and mentor with a wonderful sense of humour and unique perspective, and as a dear friend.

We at SEI extend condolences to Lisa Segnestam’s family and friends.