Paul completed his BA in Geography, History and Government & International Relations at the University of Sydney; his MA in Environment and Development at King\'s College London; and is on the verge of completing his PhD in Resource Management and Geography at the University of Melbourne. Before starting his position at UNSW he worked as a lecturer at Universidad Modelo and Universidad Anahuac Mayab in Mexico; taught classes at the Melbourne School of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne; and worked on research projects at the University of Queensland and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

He is also the cofounder of Energy For Opportunity (EFO), a non-Government Organisation based in Sierra Leone that implements renewable energy projects across the West African region.

Paul’s research is situated within the fields of political ecology, environmental history and historical geography. He has a particular interest in society-environmental relations and how these have changed through time. His current, and main, research is focused on the politics of forest conservation in Sierra Leone. He is also involved in research projects in the areas of mining conflicts (in Australia), renewable energy dissemination (in West Africa); water governance (in Mexico) and community-based forestry (also in Mexico).