mary greene

PhD Candidate (2011- Present) MSc Environment, Science and Society (University College London, 2009-2010) BA Geography and Psychological Studies (NUIGalway, 2004-2007)
Room:	116, Geography
Email:	mary.greenenuigalway.ie

Biography

Mary completed her BA (HONS) in Geography and Psychological Studies at NUIGalway, graduating with first class honours in 2007. During this time she developed a strong interest in the field of environmental geography and sustainability, specifically the social and cultural contexts of environmental change. Her undergraduate dissertation entitled ’Children’s Conceptions of Environment’, employed a creative methodological approach to examine children’s developing understandings of human-environment relations and received an Award for ’Best Undergraduate Geography Dissertation’ in 2007.

Upon completing her BA, Mary spent several years travelling throughout Asia and Australia. This experience strengthened her interest in Geography and the challenges of realising sustainable development in context. In 2009 she moved to London to undertake the MSc degree in ’Environment, Science and Society’ at University College London. This experience strengthened her knowledge of, and stimulated her interest in, all aspects of the social scientific study of sustainability. During this time she developed an interest in the relationship between communities and environmental governance, particularly the role of grassroots innovations in pioneering low carbon social innovation and the transition to a more sustainable society. Consequently, for her MSc dissertation she employed a participatory, action based research methodology to examine community-based practices for sustainability in London.

Mary’s interest in issues of sustainability extends far beyond an academic pursuit. During her time abroad she became heavily involved in community sustainability initiatives and has since brought the knowledge and experience she gained during this time back to Galway. Since her return to Galway she has helped to pioneer the establishment of Transition Galway, a community led initiative that is working to advance Galway towards a low carbon future. She is also a member of Ireland’s network of Educators for Sustainability, and is actively committed to working with communities on matters of environmental education, learning and practice.   

Research Interests:

Mary’s primary research interests are in the field of environmental governance, sustainable behaviour and consumption practices, environmental socialisation and socio-technical transitions for sustainability. She is specifically interested in the social and cultural contexts of environmental change and the factors that influence changes in everyday practices. Upon receipt of a Hardiman Research Scholarship in September 2011, Mary returned to the Geography department to research everyday consumption practices from a life-course context. Addressing the dearth of research that examines consumption from a dynamic perspective, this research is exploring how domestic practices develop, are maintained and change as individual’s move through the life-course. It adopts a biographical approach, incorporating a triangulation of life-course methodologies, to examine the relationship between current day domestic practices and wider biographical contexts.

Selected Presentations:

• ’Energy biographies: researching domestic practices over the life-course’. Paper presented at the Royal Geographical Society Mid-Term Post-graduate Conference, Birmingham, March 201.
• ’Domestic practices over the life-course: researching the everyday in a biographic context’, Paper presented at the interdisciplinary workshop Towards Methods that Encompass the Dynamics of Everyday Life, NUI Galway, March 2013.
• ’Peak Oil: problems and community-led solutions’, delivered to the Environmental Strategic Policy Committee, Galway City Council, April 2011
• ’Microcosms of Sustainability: community-based movements and sustainability transitions’. Paper presented at University College London, May 2010.
• ’Children’s Conceptions of Environment’,  presented NUIGalway, 2007.
  

Working Title:

Energy biographies: domestic practice over the life-course

Supervisors:

Dr Frances Fahy
Prof. Thomas Scharf

Research Cluster:

Planning and Sustainability

Societies:

Awards:

• Hardiman Research Scholarship 2011-2015
• Geography Student of the Year Award 2007
• ’Best Undergraduate Dissertation’ Award 2007 (Geography 2007)
• Bursary Scholarship for achieving first class honours 2006, 2007 (NUIGalway)
  

Selected Readings

Peters, M., Fudge, S. and Jackon T. (2011) (eds) Low Carbon Communities: Imaginative approaches to combating climate change locally, Cheltanham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.

Jackon, T. (2005) (eds) The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Consumption, London: Earthscan

Seyfang, G. and Smith A. (2007) ’Grassroots innovations for sustainable development: Towards a new research and policy agenda’, Environmental Politics, 16, 584-603

Spaargaren, G. (2003) ’Sustainable consumption: a theoretical and environmental policy perspective’, Society and Natural Resources, 16, 687-701.