Matthew Kearnes
Advisory Team
Matthew Kearnes completed a BSc (honours) in Human Geography at Macquarie University and a PhD at the University of Newcastle. Before arriving at UNSW he held post-doctoral positions at the Department of Geography at the Open University and the Department of Sociology at Lancaster University. He also held a Research Council’s UK Academic Fellowship at the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience Department of Geography, Durham University (2007-2011).
Matthew’s research is situated between the fields of Science and Technology Studies (STS), social and cultural geography and contemporary social theory. His research focuses on the social constitution of processes of technological and environmental change. In this context he has documented the constitution of vernacular understandings of, and responses to, technological, scientific and environmental change, and have explored novel means for promoting diverse forms public participation. Deploying qualitative and ethnographic methodologies, his research has explored the societal dimensions of, and public engagement with, climatic change, bio-nanotechnology, geoengineering and contemporary water treatment and supply.