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Department of Geography

 

Ms Catherine Tan BA, MSc, MPhil

PhD student

Hacking the Anthropocene, Seeing like a Techno-utopia: Investigating futuristic attempts to stretch the socio-legal limits of the earth

Biography

Educational background

  • PhD in Geography (Gates Cambridge Scholar), Department of Geography, University of Cambridge (Fitzwilliam College)
  • MPhil in Anthropocene Studies, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge (Downing College)
  • MSc in International Political Economy, Master of Laws (LLM) in International Law coursework; Department of International Relations, Department of Law, London School of Economics (LSE)
    • My dissertation was on the construction of neoclassical economic models in the Philippines from the 1950s-1980s, and the role of colonial interference in its uptake
    • Ranked in the Top 1% of a 300-student LLM cohort
  • BA in International Relations, with a double concentration on Economics and French Studies, Ateneo de Manila University
    • Specialised in the multivalent causes of financial crises, particularly the 2008 Wall Street Financial Crisis

Professional background

  • Founder, architect, and lead researcher, The Climate Revamp Movement, Climate Change Commission, Republic of the Philippines
    • This work earned me a nomination to be the youngest Technical Expert in the Philippines’ National Panel of Technical Experts, a position I declined due to overlaps with the PhD
  • Consultant for Climate Policy, Climate Change Commission, Republic of the Philippines
    • Climate diplomat for UN COP26, Climate Change Commission, Republic of the Philippines
  • Senior technical aide, the Ministry of Finance, Republic of the Philippines
    • Held the international finance portfolio (AIIB, ADB, IMF-World Bank, APEC, along with bilateral relations), as well as the climate portfolio
    • Focal person to the West Philippine Sea maritime dispute
  • Economic diplomat / staff-level head of delegation (HoD) to diplomatic missions to Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Vietnam, Singapore, New York, and Washington DC

Conferences organised

  • As a PhD student: Climate changed (legal) geographies: Taking the Law for a Walk in the Anthropocene, RGS-IBG Annual Conference 2023; South Kensington, London
  • As an economic diplomat: Asian Development Bank Annual Conference 2018; Manila, Philippines

Research

I’m a PhD student specialising in techno-utopias within the Anthropocene. I investigate whether the emergence of techno-futuristic projects to colonise outer space, erect cryptodemocracies, and build seasteads on the ocean, leave a dent on international law and destabilise its philosophical foundations, or innovate it to be emancipatory. I am keen to know how ‘futuristic’ scales — the oceanic, the virtual, the planetary — stretch the sociolegal limits of the earth, and complicate the subjecthood of the mortal humans within it. This work is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Prior to my PhD, I have had the privilege of generating value across a range of policy spheres within Southeast Asia for 7 years. As technical aide to the Finance Minister, I led economic diplomacy missions to Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Vietnam, Singapore, New York, and Washington DC, as staff-level Head of Delegation (HoD). In the same stint, I held the international finance portfolio (IMF-WB, ADB, AIIB) and established strong linkages between the Philippines and multilateral institutions like the IMF-World Bank, ADB, and AIIB. I also authored white papers on development policy, specifically on tax, climate finance, and macroeconomic strategy. Heterodox economics for the Global South was also my specialty during my time at the London School of Economics, mixing a Masters of Science with a Masters of Law.

More recently, I spearheaded a movement in the Philippines called The Climate Revamp movement, a multi-disciplinary endeavour to revamp the country’s climate governance strategy. As a team, my colleagues and I co-produce a climate future that is inclusive, just, and fit for the next generation by translating knowledge (academic, indigenous, technical or otherwise) into tangible institutions. The movement currently stands to be installed as an institution within the Climate Change Commission. This work earned me a nomination to be the youngest Technical Expert on the National Panel of Technical Experts, a position I declined due to overlaps with my PhD studies.

Teaching

  • Lecturer (Seminars), Techno-utopias in the Anthropocene, MPhil in Anthropocene Studies, University of Cambridge
  • Supervisor (Undergraduate Supervisions), Paper II: Political Appetites, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
    • Ran a diplomatic simulation debating the ethics of unleashing farm robots
    • Supervised 80 undergraduate students

External activities

  • Postgraduate Fellow, Royal Geographical Society, UK
  • Member, Law and Society Association, USA
  • Member, Geographies of Knowledge Research Group, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge