Naomi joined the UCL
Centre for International Health and Development (CIHD) in 2005 as technical
advisor to a randomized controlled trial in Dhanusha district, in the plains of
Nepal, in partnership with Mother and Infant Research Activities (MIRA). The
trial, which ended in 2011, was testing effectiveness of participatory women’s
groups and of community-based neonatal sepsis management in reducing neonatal
mortality. Naomi has worked in research and overseas development throughout her
career and has 19 years experience of cross-cultural working based in
developing countries. Naomi has extensive experience in community development,
participatory action research, livelihood diversification, natural resources,
food security, nutrition and maternal and child health.

Naomi
began her research career working on ecology of bumblebees in UK and
Norway in 1990-1993. After learning beekeeping as an apprentice to
beekeepers in Trinidad and Tobago, she worked in the field of
participatory rural development with a special focus on beekeeping and
non-timber forest products in Sierra Leone, Nepal, Somaliland and Kenya between 1993 and 2005. She then shifted into the field of maternal and child health and nutrition during 2005, but maintaining her interest in participatory and pro-poor approaches to improving the lives of people in low income countries, and especially Nepal.