Dr Joe Smith
The Open University

My research and teaching interests centre on the politics of environmental change. This is explored through three discrete strands of work:

• the politics of consumption, pursued through a study of biographies of food in Poland and the Czech Republic
• media representations of environmental change, centred on a programme of action research in collaboration with the BBC
• experimental reframings of environmental change, pursued mainly through the Interdependence Day project

Through the course of my CRASSH fellowship I will be drawing on more than a decade of working with media and other organisations to offer an account of the cultural work demanded by our unfolding understanding of human-induced climate change. I will also take the opportunity to reflect on the distinctive roles and responsibilities of social science and humanities researchers in helping societies to make sense of and act on climate change.

Recent popular and academic publications include:

Smith J. and Jehlicka P. (2007) 'Stories around food, politics and change in Poland and the Czech Republic', Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers vol. 32, no. 3 pp. 395-410.

Smith J., Clark N. and Yusoff K. (2007) 'Interdependence', Geography Compass vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 340-359.

Smith J. (2006) What Do Greens Believe, Granta

Smith, J. (2005) 'Dangerous news: media decision-making about climate change risk', Risk Analysis vol. 25 no. 6.

Contact Dr Smith