Dr Rachel Turner

About me:

I am an environmental social scientist, interested in how people interact with the environment. I work primarily in marine and coastal contexts, using interdisciplinary approaches to examine complex social-ecological systems. My research seeks to understand: 1) how people are differentially vulnerable to social-ecological change, with implications for their wellbeing and resilience; 2) how people respond or adapt to change, and how this shapes equity and sustainability outcomes in coastal communities; and 3) how environmental governance processes can foster both thriving coastal communities and healthy marine ecosystems.

Before joining Exeter in 2014, I completed my PhD at Newcastle University, and worked for four years as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at the University of the West Indies in Barbados. My work spans tropical and temperate systems, with research priorities developed through collaborative and transdisciplinary partnerships to address contemporary challenges in fisheries management, marine conservation and international development.

I am a member of the Environment and Sustainability Institute and of the Centre for Geography and Environmental Science. My Google Scholar profile is here.

Interests:

• Wellbeing and health in coastal communities
• Vulnerability, adaptation and resilience to social-ecological change
• Natural resource management and environmental governance
• Equity and justice
• Fisheries management, marine conservation and development
• Interdisciplinary research methods

Qualifications:

2010 PhD Social and environmental drivers of fishers’ spatial behaviour in the Northumberland Lobster Fishery (Newcastle University)
2005 MSc Tropical Coastal Management (Newcastle University)
2003 BSc Development Studies (University of East Anglia)

Career:

2018 Senior Lecturer in Environmental Social Science, University of Exeter
2014 Lecturer in Environmental Social Science, University of Exeter
2010 Research Associate, University of the West Indies

Office hours: 15 min office hour appointments for students are bookable using the link HERE.