Dr Menusha De Silva © Dr Menusha De Silva
Dr Menusha De Silva (National University of Singapore, Singapore) has received this year’s Area prize for her paper published in our academic journal Area. Dr De Silva’s paper, Daughter as positionality and the gendered politics of taking parents into the field, which was co-authored by Dr Kanchan Gandhi (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali), reflects on the complex roles that parents can play within field research.
The Area Editors, who award the prize, said: “This is an original, highly reflective and richly illustrated account of the complexities and nuances of parents accompanying researchers during fieldwork. It is particularly noteworthy for looking at the intersecting relationships between parents/daughters and between the parent-daughter duo and other actors in the research process.”
On receiving news of being awarded the prize, Dr De Silva said: “I am delighted to receive the Area prize for the article written with my co-author Kanchan Gandhi. This is truly a tribute to our mentors, colleagues and families who inspire and support us.”
Other papers that were highly commended by the Editors were: Spatial control and care in Finnish nursing homes by Virve Repo (University of Turku, Finland) and Monitoring of avulsion channel evolution and river morphology changes using UAV photogrammetry: Case study of the gravel bed Ondava River in Outer Western Carpathians by Dr Miloš Rusnak (Slovak Academy of Sciences).
The Area Prize is part of Area’s mission to be accessible to postgraduates and early career academics, through encouraging submissions and rewarding excellence in research. The recipient receives £500.