Professor Alison Anderson

Personal statement:

Since graduating from the University of York, I have gained over 30 years’ experience of working in the environmental communication field. My first book, Media, Culture and the Environment, was published in 1997 – one of the first UK studies to analyse UK media coverage of environmental issues and NGO media strategies.

My specialisms include environmental education (secondary level) and news production and climate change. I work closely with stakeholders, conduct interdisciplinary research, and have contributed to a number of government inquiries. I use a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods including surveys, content and discourse analysis, interviews

Key topic areas of research or interest:

• Climate change communication
• Climate and sustainability education
• Place making and sustainability
• Journalism and news production
• Public engagement
• Digital literacy and climate change

Collaboration opportunities:

I am interested in consultancy, commissions and media work.

Publications:

Climate change and sustainability literacy: A mixed-methods study of attitudes to climate education in secondary schools. Climatic Change https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-024-03815-1

Sustainability in Environmental Communication Research: Emerging Trends and Future Challenges. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-658-31883-3_3

Five steps for astronomers to communicate climate change effectively. Nature Astronomy https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01481-2

Increasing Local Salience of Climate Change: The un-tapped Impact of the Media-science Interface. Environmental Communication
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17524032.2019.1611615

Source Influence on Journalistic Decisions and News Coverage of Climate Change. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science.
https://oxfordre.com/climatescience/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228620-e-356

Reflections on environmental communication and the challenges of a new research agenda. Environmental Communication. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17524032.2015.1044063

Sources, media, and modes of climate change communication: the role of celebrities. WIREs Climate Change. https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wcc.119

Media, politics and climate change: Towards a new research agenda. Sociology Compass. https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2008.00188.x