Dr Emily Cox
Research Associate
- coxe3@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 0838
- Adeilad y Tŵr, Plas y Parc, Caerdydd, CF10 3AT
Trosolwg
Research summary
I am a researcher in environmental policy and social psychology. I am an expert on technologies to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, focusing on social science dimensions such as public perceptions, policy, and ethics. I am currently working on a Leverhulme Trust project on the public acceptability of negative emissions technologies, working to embed principles of public engagement and responsible innovation in technology development. I am also an expert on energy security, with a PhD in the security of low-carbon electricity systems from SPRU at the University of Sussex. I currently work for the UK Energy Research Centre, researching the social science dimensions of resilience in energy systems. I am interested in the psychology of disruptive events such as blackouts, and I work with energy system engineers to incorporate ideas of social resilience into low-carbon infrastructure development.
Bywgraffiad
Employment
October 2017 – present day: Research Associate, Understanding Risk Group, University of Cardiff
November 2016 – October 2017: events manager, Greenpeace UK
January 2015 – November 2016: Research Associate, School of Global Studies and Department of Business, Management and Economics, University of Sussex
January 2013 – September 2016: Associate Tutor, SPRU / Sussex Energy Group, University of Sussex
October 2014 – February 2016: Research intern, Oxford University Centre for the Environment
June 2014 – October 2014: Interim policy advisor, Royal Academy of Engineering
February 2014 – June 2014: Researcher (secondment), E.ON Technologies, Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station
March 2010 – September 2013: Area network co-ordinator, Greenpeace UK
Education
2012-2016: PhD in Energy Policy, “Assessing the energy security of low-carbon electricity systems”. Supervised by Prof Jim Watson (UK Energy Research Centre), Dr Florian Kern (Sussex Energy Group) and Matt Copeland (E.ON Technologies UK).
2010-2012: MSc Climate Change and Policy (Distinction), University of Sussex
Other experience & affiliations
Invited expert panel reviewer for the £20m BBSRC funding call
Editorial board at Frontiers in Climate
Member of the Energy Institute professional body
Advisory Board of Vesta project on Carbon Dioxide Removal in the Dominican Republic
Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Institution rep for the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (Early Career Network) and member of the Tyndall Council
Policy Associate, Energy-SHIFTS programme, GSI Anglia Ruskin University
Expert advisor for the Royal Society, International Maritime Organisation, UNEP, Royal Academy of Engineering, and National Infrastructure Commission
Designing science communication tools and setting up innovative interdisciplinary collaboration
Member of the consultation team for the Rampion offshore wind farm, East Sussex
Volunteer energy advisor for the Centre for Sustainable Energy
Political lobbyist, campaigner and public speaker for environmental NGOs
Cyhoeddiadau
2023
- Cox, E. 2023. “I hope they shouldn’t happen”: Social vulnerability and resilience to urban energy disruptions in a digital society in Scotland. Energy Research and Social Science 95, article number: 102901. (10.1016/j.erss.2022.102901)
- Westlake, S., John, C. and Cox, E. 2023. Perception spillover from fracking onto public perceptions of novel energy technologies. Nature Energy (10.1038/s41560-022-01178-4)
2022
- Capstick, S., Thierry, A., Cox, E., Berglund, O., Westlake, S. and Steinberger, J. K. 2022. Civil disobedience by scientists helps press for urgent climate action. Nature Climate Change 12, pp. 773-774. (10.1038/s41558-022-01461-y)
- Cox, E., Pidgeon, N. and Spence, E. 2022. But they told us it was safe! Carbon dioxide removal, fracking, and ripple effects in risk perceptions. Risk Analysis 42(7), pp. 1472-1487. (10.1111/risa.13717)
- Cox, E., Spence, E. and Pidgeon, N. 2022. Deliberating enhanced weathering: public frames, iconic ecosystems, and the governance of carbon removal at scale. Public Understanding of Science
2021
- Bellamy, R., Geden, O., Fridahl, M., Cox, E. and Palmer, J. 2021. Editorial: governing carbon dioxide removal. Frontiers in Climate 3, article number: 816346. (10.3389/fclim.2021.816346)
- Spence, E., Cox, E. and Pidgeon, N. 2021. Exploring cross-national public support for the use of enhanced weathering as a land-based carbon dioxide removal strategy. Climatic Change 165, article number: 23. (10.1007/s10584-021-03050-y)
- Cox, E., Boettcher, M., Spence, E. and Bellamy, R. 2021. Casting a wider net on ocean NETs. Frontiers in Climate 3, article number: 576294. (10.3389/fclim.2021.576294)
2020
- Cox, E., Spence, E. and Pidgeon, N. 2020. Public perceptions of carbon dioxide removal in the United States and the United Kingdom. Nature Climate Change 10, pp. 744-749. (10.1038/s41558-020-0823-z)
- Cox, E., Spence, E. and Pidgeon, N. 2020. Incumbency, trust and the Monsanto effect: stakeholder discourses on greenhouse gas removal. Environmental Values 29(2), pp. 197-220. (10.3197/096327119X15678473650947)
2019
- Cox, E. and Edwards, N. R. 2019. Beyond carbon pricing: policy levers for negative emissions technologies. Climate Policy 19(9), pp. 1144-1156. (10.1080/14693062.2019.1634509)
- Cox, E., Royston, S. and Selby, J. 2019. From exports to exercise: how non-energy policies affect energy systems. Energy Research and Social Science 55, pp. 179-188. (10.1016/j.erss.2019.05.016)
2018
- Shaw, C., Hurth, V., Capstick, S. and Cox, E. 2018. Intermediaries' perspectives on the public's role in the energy transitions needed to deliver UK climate change policy goals. Energy Policy 116, pp. 267-276. (10.1016/j.enpol.2018.02.002)
- Cox, E., Pidgeon, N., Spence, E. and Thomas, G. 2018. Blurred lines: the ethics and policy of Greenhouse Gas Removal at scale. Frontiers in Environmental Science 6, article number: 38. (10.3389/fenvs.2018.00038)
- Cox, E. 2018. Assessing long-term energy security: the case of electricity in the United Kingdom. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 82(3), pp. 2287-2299. (10.1016/j.rser.2017.08.084)
2016
- Cox, E. 2016. Securing energy sustainably. [Online]. UNA-UK. Available at: http://www.climate2020.org.uk/securing-energy-sustainably/
- Cox, E. 2016. Opening the black box of energy security: A study of conceptions of electricity security in the United Kingdom. Energy Research and Social Science 21, pp. 1-11. (10.1016/j.erss.2016.06.020)
2014
- Walker, A., Cox, E., Loughhead, J. and Roberts, J. 2014. Counting the cost: the economic and social costs of electricity shortfalls in the UK - A report for the Council for Science and Technology. London: Royal Academy of Engineering. Available at: http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/counting-the-cost
0
- Cox, E., Reardon, L. and Selby, J. . The impact of non-energy policies on energy systems: a scoping paper. UK Energy Research Centre. Available at: http://www.ukerc.ac.uk/publications/impact-of-non-energy-policies-on-energy-systems.html
Addysgu
I am a part-time Lecturer in the School of Psychology, teaching Qualitative Research Methods and Social Psychology practical work. In my previous roles I taught Energy and Climate Policy for 4 years at Master’s level and for 2 years at Undergraduate level, and I worked for Teach First as a Key Stage 3 tutor. I also worked as a teacher trainer for PhD students and environmental NGOs. I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) in recognition of my teaching experience.
Research topics and related papers
Sustainability and Society: The Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M)
I am part of a 10-year project on public attitudes to Carbon Dioxide Removal technologies, focusing on Enhanced Weathering for carbon sequestration. We conducted a cross-national survey in three countries, a series of one-to-one expert interviews, and a series of focus groups with members of the public in the UK and the US, using deliberative methods to explore complex attitudes and motivations. The results from this work have been published in leading journals including Nature Climate Change. We work alongside biochemical and geochemical scientists to foster a multidisciplinary understanding of Enhanced Weathering techniques.
The Resilience of Future Energy Systems
We are interested in how resilient our energy systems are, particularly heat and electricity, and how this might change in the future under various climate change transition scenarios. My role in this project is to assess the social impacts of a lengthy, widespread interruption to energy supplies in the UK. I will be conducting workshops and interviews with experts and lay publics, exploring techniques for visioning future disruptions to energy supply, and assessing the potential for critical infrastructure failure in interdependent sectors. I will be working closely with electrical engineers at the University of Strathclyde, to understand energy system changes and their impact on society.
My other research topics have included:
- The ethics of climate mitigation and carbon dioxide removal
- The energy impacts of non-energy policies
- Energy security in low-carbon electricity systems
- Risk in socio-technical transitions
- The imperatives for nuclear power investment in the UK
- The conflict and security impacts of decarbonisation
- The role of the public in delivering the UK’s carbon targets
Funding
My current research project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust for Climate Change Mitigation, and the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC).
My PhD was sponsored by a CASE award, jointly by EPSRC and E.ON Technologies UK.
Research group
I work as part of the Understanding Risk Research Group, which includes researchers from various disciplines and methodological backgrounds. The group has members from within Cardiff University and also works with institutions such as Nottingham University, Sheffield University and the University of East Anglia.
Supervision
Past projects
Media activities
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