Lauren Culverwell

Lauren Culverwell is an aspiring ecological anthropologist and creative non-fiction author. She completed her BA (with distinction) at the University of Pretoria, majoring in anthropology and English literature before moving to the University of Cape Town where she completed her Honours in Anthropology (with distinction). In 2023 she began pursuing her MPhil in the department and is currently in the process of upgrading that project to a PhD. The dissertation, currently titled “Contamination and its Kin in Cape Town”, aims to investigate the flows of visible and invisible contamination in and out of watery landscapes. It explores the management of these flows, suggesting alternative frameworks and understandings of contaminants within urban biologies and ecologies.

During her studies she has received numerous honors including the Maskew Miller Longman Award (2020), University of Pretoria Dean’s list (2021), UCT Gold Leadership Award (2022 & 2023), the Villiers Smuts Scholarship (2023) and is a current recipient of the DELTAS Africa II Scholarship (2024). Lauren has experience as an environmental consultant (2022), a TedxUCT organizer (2022-2023) and as an anthropology tutor (2021-2024). Outside of the university, she loves roaming the outdoors, writing short stories and creating illustrated nature journals.