Sophie Toff

Biography

Sophie is a doctoral researcher in the Department of Politics & International Relations at Northeastern University London (expected completion: July 2027). Her research examines how human exceptionalism is perpetuated through biodiversity governance using biopolitical analysis, with a particular focus on value propositions as they pertain to biodiverse life.  Working with key biodiversity governance frameworks including the Convention on Biological Diversity, IPBES, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, she investigates how institutional frameworks and science-policy interfaces shape responses to systemic environmental challenges, and their implications for democratic governance.

She is particularly interested in bridging critical theory with practical sustainability challenges, and in exploring how power relations shape environmental knowledge production. Her work is deeply interdisciplinary, drawing on political theory, science and technology studies, and environmental philosophy.

Through her position as a Humanities Center Global Fellow (2025-2026) under the theme “Unsettling,” Sophie is examining how power relations have engineered our environmental realities. Before beginning her PhD, she worked at Volans, a think-tank and advisory firm, where she advised organisations on systems change and regenerative approaches. She continues this work in a freelance capacity alongside her research.

Qualifications

PhD Politics & International Relations, Northeastern University London (expected 2027
BA Philosophy with Politics & International Relations (1st Class Honours), New College of the Humanities (2021)