Elaine has worked in a variety of roles in postsecondary education for nearly two decades. Trained as an environmental scientist, she also holds professional certificates in adult learning. Her administrative and academic leadership experience includes coordinating PhD and MPhil programs in environmental science, managing curriculum development and strategic planning processes, and supporting research capacity-building initiatives. Her teaching focuses on human interaction with the environment, community-based environmental management, and adult education. She has also engaged extensively in fieldwork and graduate student supervision. Her research is collaborative and transdisciplinary in nature, exploring the intersectional impacts of global environmental change, particularly the socioeconomic and livelihood implications for communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Research interests
Community-based adaptation and resilience to global environmental change
Education and learning across formal and informal settings
Environmental governance and policy processes
Intersectionality in environmental and livelihood systems
Knowledge co-production integrating scientific, local, and Indigenous knowledge
Sustainability
Educational credentials
Ph.D., Environmental Sciences Magna cum laude (Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany)
Adult and Community Education Certificate (University of Calgary)
Certificate in Career and Academic Advising (University of Calgary)
M.Phil., Environmental Science (University of Ghana)
B.Sc. (Honours), Botany/Zoology (University of Cape Coast)
Diploma in Education (University of Cape Coast)
Professional affiliations
Career Development Association of Alberta (CDAA)
Environmental Careers Organization (ECO) Canada
Lawson, E. T., Asabil, B., Salifu, A. Z., Alare, R. S., Ayivor, J. S., & Mensah, A. (2025). Climate-related information sources and the adaptation decisions of women crop farmers in the Guinea Savannah Zone of Ghana. African Geographical Review, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2025.2574343.
Ayivor, J. S., Lawson, E. T., Ohemeng, F., & Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (2023). Conservation perspectives and perception of bats as reservoirs of zoonotic diseases in Ghana. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 28 (6), 516-530. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2022.2120650.
Alare, R. S., Lawson, E. T., Mensah, A., Yevide, A., & Adiku, P. (2022). Assessing nuanced social networks and its implication for climate change adaptation in northwestern Ghana. World Development Perspectives, 25, 100390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100390.
Akugre, F. A., Owusu, K., Wrigley-Asante, C., & Lawson, E. T. (2021). How do land tenure arrangements influence adaptive responses of farmers? A study of crop farmers from semi-arid Ghana. GeoJournal, 87 (3), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-021-10372-y.
Salifu, A. R. Z., Lawson, E. T. & Wrigley-Asante, C. (2021). Responses to Water Scarcity Considering Social Determinants: Groundnut Farmers in the Lawra and Nandom Districts, Ghana. In L. Ribbe, A. Haarstrick, M. Babel, S. Dehnavi & H. K. Biesalski (Eds.), Towards Water Secure Societies: Coping with Water Scarcity and Quality Challenges (pp. 109-123). Springer.
Lawson, E. T., Alare, R. S., Salifu, A. R. Z., & Thompson-Hall, M. (2020). Dealing with climate change in semi-arid Ghana: understanding intersectional perceptions and adaptation strategies of women farmers. GeoJournal, 85, 439-452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-019-09974-4.
Rao, N., Lawson, E. T., Raditloaneng, W. N., Solomon, D., & Angula, M. N. (2019). Gendered vulnerabilities to climate change: insights from the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. Climate and Development, 11(1), 14–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2017.1372266
Ohemeng, F., Lawson, E. T., Ayivor, J. S., & Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y. (2019). Changing attitudes and behaviour towards bats by communities that live close to bat roosts after the 2013 Ebola viral disease outbreak in West Africa. Journal of Global Health Reports, 3, e2019037.
Agbefe, L. E., Lawson, E. T., & Yirenya-Tawiah, D. (2019). Awareness on waste segregation at source and willingness to pay for collection service in selected markets in Ga West Municipality, Accra, Ghana. Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 21 (4), 905–914.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-019-00849-x
Leach, M., Bett, B., Said, M., Bukachi, S., Sang, R., Anderson, N., Machila, N., Kuleszo, J.,Schaten, K., Dzingirai, V., Mangwanya, L., Ntiamoa-Baidu, Y., Lawson, E., Amponsah-Mensah, K., Moses, L. M., Wilkinson, A., Grant, D. S., & Koninga, J. (2017). Local disease–ecosystem–livelihood dynamics: reflections from comparative case studies in Africa. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 372 (1725),20160163–20160163. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0163
Tanner, T., Mensah, A., Lawson, E. T., Gordon, C., Godfrey-Wood, R., & Cannon, T. (2017). A Political Economy of Artisanal Fisheries and Climate Change in Ghana. In F. Nunan (Eds.), Making Climate Compatible Development Happen (pp. 223–241). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315621579-11.
Lawson, E.T. (2016). Negotiating stakeholder participation in the Ghana National Climate Change Policy International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management. 8 (3) 399-417. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-04-2015-0041.
Ahmed, A., Lawson, E. T., Mensah, A., Gordon, C., & Padgham, J. (2016). Adaptation to climate change or non-climatic stressors in semi-arid regions? Evidence of gender differentiation in three agrarian districts of Ghana. Environmental Development, 20, 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2016.08.002.