Dr Leslie Mabon
Senior Lecturer in Social Science
The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS)
My research addresses the social and cultural dimensions of environmental change. I also have a strong interest in the interdisciplinary research process itself. I am particularly interested in environmental issues that are not so clear cut and ‘easy’ to address – for example, where there is a clearly-defined technical and scientific course of action to be followed, which might have to be balanced with what is considered socially acceptable or desirable. I explore these issues through two sub-areas of research:
(b) policy and governance for climate change adaptation at the regional, city and local level. Within this, I focus on equity and justice issues within nature-based solutions as a resilience strategy for cities and communities in the coastal zone. I have looked at these issues in depth for Fukuoka (Japan); Taipei (Taiwan); and Nam Dinh Province/Quang Nam Province (Vietnam);
(a) risk, environmental infrastructure and the coastal and marine environment. I am interested in how environmental change impacts upon socially and culturally meaningful activities, and what the effects of this may be. Key research sites include coastal Fukushima Prefecture (Japan) following the 2011 nuclear disaster; Tomakomai City in Hokkaido (Japan), which hosts Japan’s first demonstration of sub-seabed carbon dioxide storage; and the North Sea (Scotland), where I am interested in how we can shape a just transition to a sustainable future for the people and places reliant on carbon-intensive industries such as oil and gas.
