Dr Maurice Beseng

Contact details

Room: 2.10, Ramphal Building

Term-time* office hours: Mondays 16:00-17:00 (virtual); Wednesdays 1600-17:00 (in-person, RM 210)

Administrative enquiries: UGGSD@warwick.ac.uk

Teaching Fellow

Background

Maurice Beseng joined Global Sustainable Development (GSD) in October 2025. Prior, he was Assistant Professor in the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham and also previously held two postdoctoral research positions. Firstly, as Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), where he investigated the global trade in donkey skins and its links to wildlife trafficking in Africa. Secondly, as a Research Associate at the University of Sheffield’s Institute for Global Sustainable Development, contributing to the AfriCultuReS project on remote sensing, climate change and food security in 8 African countries.

Dr Beseng earned his PhD in Development Studies from Coventry University in 2019, where his doctoral research examined the fisheries-maritime security nexus in Cameroon and its implications for local livelihoods and sustainable development in the Gulf of Guinea. He also holds an MA in Conflict and Peace Studies, an Erasmus Mundus Joint European MSc in Water and Coastal Management, a Postgraduate Diploma in Gender and Development Studies, and a BSc in Botany and Environmental Sciences.

Taught modules

Undergraduate:

Teaching and research interests

My academic and pedagogical interests are deeply rooted in the intersections of marine environmental governance, development studies, and participatory research methodologies. My teaching philosophy is guided by a commitment to fostering critical thinking, interdisciplinary inquiry, and socially engaged scholarship. I aim to cultivate inclusive learning environments where students are encouraged to interrogate dominant paradigms, reflect on their positionality, and apply theoretical knowledge to real-world maritime challenges.

My research interests are closely aligned with my teaching practice and focuses on the intersections of ocean governance, maritime security, environmental justice, and civil society engagement. Particularly, I seek to understand how coastal communities respond to global maritime change, including issues such as plastic pollution, fisheries crime, and the politics of the blue economy. I am interested in the role of indigenous knowledge systems and grassroots activism in promoting sustainable and just environmental practices. My other research work has focussed on civil society, conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Cameroon. I have conducted fieldwork in Central and West Africa, examining the socio-political dynamics of illegal wildlife crime, maritime security governance, security and peacebuilding.

Recent publications

Journal Articles

Su, S., Macdonald, E.A., Arcilla, N., Beseng, M., Thomaz, F. and Macdonald, D.W., 2023. Characterising the links between the trade in donkey skins for Traditional Chinese Medicine and timber of conservation concern. Global Ecology and Conservation, p.e02598.

Beseng, M., Crawford, G., & Annan, N. (2023). From ‘Anglophone Problem’ to ‘Anglophone Conflict’ in Cameroon: Assessing Prospects for Peace. Africa Spectrum, DOI: 10.1177/00020397231155244.

Su S, Macdonald, E. A, Beseng, M, Thomaz, F. & Macdonald, D. W. (2022) “The link between wildlife trade and the global donkey skin product network” Conservation Science and Practice DOI: 10.1111/csp2.12676

Annan, A., Beseng, M., Crawford, G., & Kiven, J. K. (2021) Civil society, peacebuilding from below and shrinking civic space: the case of Cameroon’s ‘Anglophone’ conflict, Conflict, Security & Development, https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2021.1997454

Beseng, M., & James Malcolm (2021): Maritime security and the securitisation of fisheries in the Gulf of Guinea: experiences from Cameroon, Conflict, Security & Development, DOI: 10.1080/14678802.2021.1985848

Beseng, M. (2021). “The Nature and Scope of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing and Fisheries Crime in Cameroon: Implications for Maritime Security”. African Security, 1-24. DOI: 10.1080/19392206.2021.1982241

Beseng, M., (2019). “Cameroon’s choppy waters: The anatomy of fisheries crime in the maritime fisheries sector”. Marine Policy, 108, 103669. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2019.103669

Book chapters

Fonchingong C, and Beseng, M. (2015). ‘Space Partners or Mortal Enemies: Contentious Lands, Farmer–Grazier Conflicts and Women’s Militancy in Cameroon’, Lumumba-Kasongo, T (ed), Land Reforms and Natural Resource Conflicts in Africa: New Development Paradigms in the Era of Global Liberalization, Routledge, London. ISBN 10: 1138888826.

Reports

Kiven, J., Crawford, G., Beseng, M., & Nancy Annan (2021). “Shrinking Civic Space and the Role of Civil Society in Resolution of Conflict in Anglophone Cameroon”. Coventry University and African Leadership Centre, Coventry, UK

OP-ED

Gordon, C. and Beseng, M. (2023). Cameroon’s anglophone conflict has lasted for six years: what citizens say about how to end it. The Conversation, Africa.

Gordon, G., Beseng, M., Annan, A., (2023). "War and no peace in Southern Cameroons". Africa is a Country

Nancy, A, Beseng, M., Gordon, C., (2023). "Civil Society Contributions towards the Resolution of the Anglophone Conflict in Cameroon". The Peace News Network.

Beseng, M. (2021). “How illegal fishing off Cameroon’s coast worsens maritime security”, The Conversation, Africa.

Beseng, M. (2019) “Cameroon Can’t Afford to Continue Ignoring Crime in Fisheries Sector”. The Conversation, Africa.

Selected conference events

"Sea of Consequences: Social and Natural Science Narratives on Environmental Harm and Crime at Sea", April 15-17 2026, Universitat de les Illes Balears (Palma de Mallorca, Spain),