Professor Alison Anderson is a professor of sociology in the School of Law, Criminology and Government, at Plymouth University. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University. Alison has a BA (Hons) in Sociology from the University of York and a PhD from the University of Greenwich.
Alison’s research expertise is in the area of science communication including mass media and culture, risk, nanotechnologies, marine pollution and environmental sustainability.
In her most recent book, Media, Environment and the Network Society, Alison discusses the news media and how it has become a key stage for environmental conflicts. Through a series of examples from climate change to oil spills, this book provides an analysis of media politics and environmental debates.
Alison holds various roles on external bodies including:
Research published in Marine Pollution Bulletin explored attitudes regarding the presence of microplastic particles within readily available cosmetics
This study involved social scientists, marine scientists and psychologists and was funded by the University’s Sustainable Earth Institute.
Find out more about the studyRichard Black, Director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, and Professor Anderson present on climate science in the media. Richard talks from a practitioners point of view of how the media works, and why it can be difficult to communicate climate science, and Alison talks about the research and academic challenges.
Alison Anderson talks about the role of the media communicating climate change, and the increasingly important role they play in shaping public attitudes about the climate change debate. Alison also discusses how the media contribute to cultural predispositions towards sustainability.