Team

Team

Ruth is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on the politics of public goods provision in low-income countries, from the perspectives of both governments and citizens. Her regional expertise lies primarily in East Africa. Ruth has conducted extensive fieldwork in Tanzania and has also been involved in research activities in Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, and South Africa. Ruth's work has appeared in prestigious academic journals including World Development , Perspectives on Politics , Development Policy Review , Public Administration , and the Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law . In addition to her academic research, Ruth has worked on studies commissioned by UN Women, Ladysmith, USAID, Twaweza, the International Budget Partnership, the World Bank, and other practice-oriented organizations. Ruth holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Duke University.

Dr. Ruth D. Carlitz

Principal Investigator

Gabriela (Gaby) Alberola is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow with the ClimateFiGS project in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. Gaby leverages her interdisciplinary background in biology, environmental policy, and political science, combined with her roots in activism, to address pressing environmental challenges. Born and raised in Panama City, Panama, her work is driven by a deep commitment to social and environmental justice. Gaby’s research focuses on the subnational distribution of climate change funding in the Global South, analyzing its effectiveness, equity, and transparency. Her broader work delves into international environmental politics, political economy, and comparative politics, including resilience building, violence against environmental activists, and gender disparities in access to climate finance. Gaby holds a PhD in Environmental Science and Management and an MA in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, an MS in Watershed Science and Policy from California State University, Monterey Bay, and a BS in Environmental Biology from the Universidad de Panamá.

Dr. Gabriela Alberola

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Wangui is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, investigating the allocation of climate finance in the Global South, as part of the ClimateFiGS project. More specifically her work will seek to understand what drives climate-related budget allocations. Wangui’s work draws on her extensive experience in carbon markets and climate finance. With an MSc in Computational Economics, Financial Markets, and Policy, and a Bachelors degree in Financial Economics, Wangui is curious about innovative methodologies in the social sciences, such as network analysis and agent-based modeling. Her curiosity is led by the need to address socioeconomic challenges through relevant policy recommendations and creative problem-solving.

Wangui Kagumba

PhD Student

Tendai is a PhD candidate conducting research on the ClimateFiGS project in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on the allocation of sub-national climate finance, with a particular emphasis on understanding the decision-making processes and power dynamics that determine climate finance distribution and the policy architecture that facilitate mitigation and adaptation in the Global South. Tendai holds a Master’s degree in Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation (Natural Resources Management) and possesses substantial experience in climate policy and financing at national and continental levels. His research interests encompass the political economy of climate finance, market mechanisms, policy and conflict-sensitive approaches to climate action.

Tendai E. Kasinganeti

PhD Student

Oluwatosin Olowookere is a PhD candidate at the Department of Political Science, working on the ClimateFiGS project. Driven by a passion for equitable climate solutions, his research explores the political economy and institutional dynamics of climate finance allocation in the Global South, focusing on how donor finance instruments, recipient vulnerabilities, climate ownership, and governance structures shape policymakers’ decision-making. Using a positivist approach, he investigates how climate finance is allocated amidst competing needs, conditionalities, and national priorities, and how these decisions shape climate outcomes in recipient countries. His work leverages quantitative methodologies, including survey experiments, panel econometrics, and natural language processing, to bring new insights on climate finance dynamics. Oluwatosin holds an MSc in Social Protection from Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, where his thesis utilised dynamic panel econometrics to evaluate the impacts of development finance on health outcomes—a foundation for his current research. His prior experience in climate finance research, monitoring and evaluation at German development agencies like DEval and GIZ enables him to bring a practical perspective to his academic work. His interests include impact evaluation, climate and environmental policy, development economics, political economy, and research methodology.

Oluwatosin Olowookere

PhD Student

Paula is a researcher in climate finance and sustainable development at the University of Amsterdam. She holds master’s degrees in International Development Studies and Political Science, specialising in Comparative Politics. Within ClimateFiGS, Paula contributes to research on the allocation and alignment of climate finance in the Global South. As part of the project, she completed her master’s thesis on the alignment between citizen climate-policy priorities and the content of G20 countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions, combining survey data with ClimateBERT-assisted document analysis. Her wider work within ClimateFiGS includes administrative support, research activities, such as stakeholder mapping, background research, data analysis and literature reviews, and the coordination of speaker-series events and expert workshops in Tanzania and South Africa. Alongside her work at ClimateFiGS, Paula has contributed to research, monitoring and evaluation, and policy engagement at WRI Europe, WBCSD, Arepo Consult, and GIZ. Across these roles, she has worked on climate finance, just transitions, international climate cooperation, and sustainable development.

Paula Haerle

Junior Researcher

Cornelius is a student of the Research Master Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. He holds a BS in Political Science and specialized in comparative politics, political economy, and sustainable development. Cornelius is experienced in mixed methods research including qualitative, quantitative and computational research methodologies. For his Master’s thesis, he is researching the developmental state and renewable energy transition of Vietnam. As a research intern for ClimateFiGS, Cornelius works on innovative survey research about local climate finance allocation. The research project he supports aims to uncover what shapes decision-making of local bureaucrats in Tanzania, Kenia, and South Africa.

Cornelius Wenzel

Research Intern

Understanding the Allocation
of Climate Finance in the Global South