Navigating Cambridge: Reflections from a Woman in Research
By Maryam Yabo
Spending a few weeks as a Visiting PhD Researcher at the University of Cambridge has been one of the most transformative experiences of my doctoral journey. When I arrived, I expected access to libraries, seminars, and academic resources. What I didn’t expect was the extent to which the experience would reshape my research, deepen my confidence as a scholar, and remind me why networks like Women in Research matter.
‘I often find myself navigating the intellectual demands of my field alongside the quieter internal questions about belonging, authority, and voice. Cambridge, with its intense academic environment, could easily have magnified those insecurities. Instead, it did the opposite’.
My research sits at the intersection of international climate law, racial capitalism, and epistemic injustice. These are heavy, complex themes, and like many women in research, I often find myself navigating the intellectual demands of my field alongside the quieter internal questions about belonging, authority, and voice. Cambridge, with its intense academic environment, could easily have magnified those insecurities. Instead, it did the opposite.
As a woman of colour working on Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), I know that academic spaces can sometimes feel like places where belonging is unevenly distributed. There are moments when I find myself as the only person of colour in the room, even in conversations about race, justice, or the Global South. In those moments, it can feel as though there is an unspoken pressure to be the voice of entire communities, to advocate, to push back, or to educate. One of the most valuable aspects of this exchange was learning to balance when to speak and when to listen. Some discussions required my voice, perspective, or lived experience. Others offered a space to observe, absorb, and learn from different intellectual traditions. Finding that balance reshaped how I see myself not only as a researcher, but as someone navigating academic spaces with intentionality and care.
From my very first week, I found myself immersed in intellectually generous spaces: seminars at the Lauterpacht Centre, research development workshops, interdisciplinary lectures across POLIS, CRASSH, and the Department of Land Economy. Engaging with scholars from fields as varied as political ecology, international law, anthropology, and climate justice helped me see my own work through new lenses. The conversations were rigorous yet collaborative; people listened, challenged thoughtfully, and welcomed fresh perspectives. That sense of openness was deeply affirming.
In one class, a participant made a comment that has stayed with me: academia is filled with conversations about what needs to change in the world, yet the solutions we discuss often remain abstract. It resonated deeply. My research deals with the difficult realities of cobalt extraction, racial capitalism, frontline harms, and the darker dimensions of the climate crisis. These are not abstract issues for the communities experiencing them. They are urgent, painful, and real. And yet, academic spaces can sometimes feel distant from that reality, carried away by philosophical debates and theoretical language. The exchange helped me sit with this tension rather than run from it. I found myself thinking more critically about what it means to do research that is ethically grounded, socially engaged, and attentive to the lived experiences behind the frameworks we study. It pushed me to ask how my own work can bridge that gap, even in small ways.
One of the standout moments of my exchange was presenting my research as part of the Law Faculty’s Research Training and Development Programme. Preparing for that presentation felt like a milestone, an opportunity to articulate complex arguments around climate coloniality, green extractivism, and the future of international law in front of faculty and fellow researchers. The feedback I received was encouraging, critical in the best ways, and genuinely transformative for my thesis.
But beyond the academic development, the exchange reminded me of the importance of community. As women in research, we often carry invisible layers of labour: the pressure to excel, the expectation to constantly self-advocate, and the emotional work of navigating institutions not originally designed for us. Meeting other women researchers at Cambridge, many pushing boundaries in their own fields, reinforced how valuable solidarity and shared space are in sustaining the research journey.
The exchange also gave me the rare chance to work slowly and with intention. Between days at the law library, afternoons cycling between seminars, and mornings in quiet college spaces, I had time to think deeply, not just about my research, but about my identity as a scholar. I left Cambridge with a clearer sense of direction, renewed motivation, and a stronger belief in the importance of bringing Global South perspectives into climate discussions that urgently need them. I left Cambridge with new ideas, new collaborators, and a renewed sense of purpose in my work. And for that, I’m deeply grateful.
