Dr Alex Arnall

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+44 (0) 118 378 8369
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Associate Professor of Environment and Development
- Head of Department, International Development
- Programme Director of the
Areas of interest
- Flooding, coastal erosion and sea defences
- Understandings of, and responses to, sea level rise
- Managed retreat and natural flood management
- Anthropocene studies and political ecology/geology
Research projects
- Stories of the Sea: Remembering Storms to Build Resilience, 2025 (AHRC Impact Accelerator Grant)
- Exploring the Histories of People’s Relationships with the Sea in Borth, 2024 (AHRC Impact Accelerator Grant)
- Stories we live by: Discipline-Hopping to Address the ‘Imagination Deficit’ in Anthropocene Thinking, 2023 (NERC Discipline Hopping for Discovery Science)
- Everyday Security and Global Environmental Change, 2021-22 (ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø Research Fellowship)
- Visualising and Representing Environmental Change in Island Communities, 2020-2021 (ESRC-DFID Joint Fund)
- Sea-Level Rise and Everyday Lives in Small Island States, 2019-2022 (Australian Research Council)
- , 2017-2019 (ESRC-DFID Joint Fund)
- Marginal or Marginalised? Investigating Discourses of International Land Acquisition in Southern Mozambique, 2015-16 (British Academy)
- Perceptions and Understandings of Climate Change and Migration: Conceptualising and Contextualising for Lakshadweep and Maldives, 2012-15 (The Research Council of Norway)
- Involuntary Resettlement and Livelihoods Restoration in Flood-Affected Communities in Mozambique, 2011-13 (British Academy)
Background
I am a Human Geographer studying the social, political and cultural dimensions of environmental change, particularly in coastal areas. I have worked extensively on climate adaptation, sea-level rise and managed retreat, with a strong emphasis on participatory and place-based approaches. I collaborate with partners in the UK, Europe and Southeast Asia, exploring themes such as coastal livelihoods, flood management, and the use of creative methods in research. I welcome interdisciplinary collaboration and have experience working with lawyers, political scientists and environmental scientists.