Rate My Professor Vanessa Bowden

Dr Vanessa Bowden serves as a Lecturer in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle, Australia, within the College of Human and Social Futures. A graduate of the University of Newcastle, she earned her Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts (Honours), and Doctor of Philosophy there. During her undergraduate studies, she developed a passion for social justice issues through the sociology department. Bowden's research centers on environmental sociology, particularly the intersections of environmental understandings with science, policy, politics, and social justice. Her fields of research include sociology and social studies of science and technology (80%) and environmental politics (20%). She explores climate change as a multifaceted social, political, and economic challenge, focusing on barriers to change, trust in science, economic concerns, and responses from corporate and political sectors.

In her current work, Dr Bowden collaborates with Professor Daniel Nyberg on two Australian Research Council (ARC)-funded projects: one investigating the politics of energy transitions in Australia and the other examining adaptation strategies in key industry sectors to climate change. She has led several grants, including $32,103 from the Climate Social Science Network in 2023, $25,000 ARC Discovery funding in 2023, and various College of Human and Social Futures schemes totaling over $69,000. Her key publications encompass the co-authored book Organising Responses to Climate Change: The Politics of Mitigation, Adaptation and Suffering (Cambridge University Press, 2022) with Daniel Nyberg and Christopher Wright. Notable journal articles include "Truth and power: deliberation and emotions in climate adaptation processes" (Environmental Politics, 2021), "'We're Going Under': The Role of Local News Media in Dislocating Climate Change Adaptation" (Environmental Communication, 2021), "Beyond the discourse of denial: The reproduction of fossil fuel hegemony in Australia" (Energy Research & Social Science, 2021), "Turning Back the Rising Sea: Theory performativity in the shift from climate science to popular authority" (Organization Studies, 2021), and "Coal Exists, Therefore it Must be dug up" (Science & Technology Studies, 2024). These contributions highlight her influence in understanding fossil fuel hegemony and climate adaptation processes.