Before joining the University of Bonn, Frankline worked as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Human Geography at Örebro University in Sweden. Frankline earned his Ph.D. in human geography from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Prior to that, he earned a specialized MSc in rural development from Ghent University in Belgium, another MSc in peace and development studies from Linnaeus University in Sweden, and an interdisciplinary BSc in sociology and anthropology from the University of Buea in Cameroon.
Frankline’s research spans development and economic geography, where he examines, from an interdisciplinary perspective, how neoliberal approaches to environmental protection and resource management impact the well-being of local communities in Africa. Frankline studies agricultural and forest communities to examine how access to land and other environmental resources is determined and/or controlled by more powerful political and economic actors, such as multinational corporations, foreign and domestic investors, and the state. In his doctoral dissertation, for example, Frankline examined the local impacts of foreign land acquisition in Africa from the perspectives of political economy and political ecology.
Frankline’s research findings have been documented and published in journal articles, conference proceedings, and book chapters, many of which are available online. His research is complemented by a passion for teaching, which he further developed at the universities of Melbourne and Örebro, where he successfully completed a course in teaching pedagogy. Frankline has gained teaching experience in Africa (Cameroon), Europe (Sweden), and Australia.
At the University of Bonn, Frankline will work closely with CRC colleagues and partners, as well as with stakeholders from the energy sector, to develop a conceptual and methodological framework for the energy transition in the Global South. As part of the Future Rural Africa project, he will conduct empirical research on the development of geothermal power plants in Kenya and other East African countries.