Dr Harriet Nash

Honorary Research Fellow
Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
University of Exeter

Harriet Nash is an ethnographer and hydrogeologist.

For the last ten years, Harriet has been researching the use of stars in Oman, first for timing irrigation water shares, and latterly for the seasons, both for agriculture and fishing. For comparative purposes, her work has extended to Iran and Qatar.

Her PhD (2009) recorded methods of watching the stars and their identifications in some five villages in Oman where they were still in use. She focuses on "salvage" ethnography, recording practices that are fast dying out in order to document the cultural heritage of Oman and the wider region.