pathway: Sustainable Futures Alumni

The fashion industry is increasingly coming under fire due to concerns surrounding its sustainability. As just one example, it is thought that if the sector continues on its current trajectory, it will account for a quarter of the world’s carbon emissions by 2050. A potential way to alleviate some of these concerns could be to transition towards using circular textiles, as opposed to virgin alternatives. These type of textiles align to the principles of the circular economy and can be created from bio-based or regenerated fibres. Through my interdisciplinary PhD I am exploring the barriers, motivators and relationships impacting the adoption of circular textiles within commercial fashion ranges.

I am interested in the way climate change is communicated and discussed in an increasingly online media landscape. My research attempts to investigate the impact of institutional norms and pressures on media representations of climate change by assessing how the modern newsroom impacts upon the framing of climate change in media content produced. I am particularly interested in the way that new digital technologies and platforms are having an effect on climate change in the media.

Transport, diet and material consumption are widely identified as crucial sites for environmental behaviour change. However, these behaviours are woven into daily life, and their change requires a great deal of personal or social sacrifice. Despite this, many people adapt their daily behaviour drastically in light of moral sensitivity to environmental concerns- adopting new identities (e.g. Vegan or Voluntary Simplifier) and reorganizing their lifestyles in accordance with their moral values.

My research examines intra and intergroup processes involved in the maintenance, transmission and adoption of pro-environmental identities, and their role in influencing or inhibiting social change in wider populations.

My research seeks to determine the role of local energy actors in the spatial diffusion of solar photovoltaics, and their contribution to overcoming the energy trilemma of energy security, energy affordability (and equity) and environmental sustainability. Spatial analysis will identify factors associated with the uptake of small-scale solar at various geographical scales, reflecting energy governance as multi-scalar. This spatial work will inform a subsequent case study approach, which will assess local energy’s current role in the energy system and how this might evolve in the future.

The future of sustainable transport relies on an understanding of behaviour in relation to interactions within the transport environment and mode choice. I will explore road user behaviour in situations where increased highway space is allocated to active mobility, or its relative priority elevated. Social behaviours within the public realm are influenced by the law and regulation, and by the design of the environment, yet regulation is influenced by behaviour and the environment, and the environment is influenced by behaviour and regulation. These inter-relations are an under-researched area that I wish to investigate further.

My research examines the development of heat networks in the UK and Germany with particular focus on the role of municipal utilities.  The research will explore the integration of heat networks into the energy system and models of city scale energy provision and ownership.  More broadly, the project aims to explore the interaction of different actors, institutions and governance in urban energy infrastructure in order to better understand scales in socio-technical transitions.  My broader research interests focus on low carbon innovation at a local level, particularly exploring the role of local authorities in energy governance, policy development and implementation.

Cultured meat is meat grown from animal cells without the need to slaughter animals. My research is in individual attitudes towards cultured meat products, especially the cognitive and affective mechanisms shaping behaviour towards cultured meat. I am exploring how perceptions change over time, the mechanisms underpinning this change, and the role of emotions in forming perceptions of unfamiliar objects.

This research will critically analyse the spectrum of stakeholder engagement and participatory approaches employed within the marine environmental sector in the UK. In collaboration with case-study partners it will empirically examine examples of applied citizen science and engagement in marine policy and planning, to illuminate successful methods that can be applied to environmental policy more broadly. This interdisciplinary research will bridge the interface between marine science, governance and policy, and behavioural and educational theories. The application of the findings will support marine and coastal environmental management through a greater understanding of how policy and management intersect with the public.