Dr Thornhill is a specialist in the history and anthropology of West Africa, especially related to armed conflict, gender-based violence, and traditional harmful practices. For the past 17 years she has lived and worked across West Africa, in particular Liberia and Ghana, as well as Benin, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire. Since 2019 she has worked as the Director of an Oxfordshire-based research company, Résolu Ltd. Some of her recent projects with Résolu include fragility assessments for the African Development Bank, field research on health systems in Côte d’Ivoire, and gender-based violence prevention for academics and policy makers. Prior to founding Résolu, Dr Thornhill worked as an Assistant Professor in Gender Violence at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, a Tutor in Gender, Geography & Environment at University of Oxford, and various other roles related to complex humanitarian emergencies in West Africa. Her work has been published in Routledge, Third World Quarterly, and Democracy In Africa. She completed her DPhil at University of Oxford School of Geography and the Environment in 2016. Dr Thornhill has produced expert reports since 2012.
