Dr Ria Dunkley
- Senior Lecturer (Pedagogy, Praxis & Faith)
telephone:
0141 330 5079
email:
Ria.Dunkley@glasgow.ac.uk
663, St Andrew's Building, 11 Eldon Street, Glasgow, G3 6NH
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0238-7344Biography
Ria is a senior lecturer and researcher whose research focuses on ecopedagogy, learning for sustainability and community-led environmental and climate action. She is an Associate Director of the Centre for Sustainable Solutions and Co-lead for the College of Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Research Theme on "Challenges in Changing Cities"
She specialises in ecopedagogy as a route to enabling both an understanding of the climate crisis and empowering individuals, communities and organisations to initiate sustainable solutions through research, education and partnership. She is currently leading Community Collaboration work within the GALLANT project, based within the Centre for Sustainable Solutions. She is also interested in alternative means of knowledge creation and understanding beyond science and how these influence the transmission and circulation of notions of environmental sustainability. Ria's recent publications address community involvement in environmental sustainability initiatives and the meaning of citizen science experiences to involved individuals, and the role of participatory science in sustainable development.
She coordinates Spot-a-Bee, a citizen science project run as a collaboration between academics at the University of Glasgow and Cardiff University and the Hidden Environmental Histories of the River Clyde.
Research interests
Dr Ria Dunkley’s research focuses upon the many ways in which individuals and communities are meeting climate change and ecological crises in their everyday lives.
Within her researcher role, she has built partnerships with organisations, including UK National Park Authorities, Nature Reserves and Preserves and Land Conservancies in the UK and the US, and a wide range of environmental education and engagement organisations. Working in partnership enables Ria to contribute to understanding how a transition to a sustainable society will involve a social and cultural shift in our relationship with the natural world, while also ensuring a practical grounding for her research.
As an interdisciplinary scholar with a foundation in cultural geography and education, Ria’s expertise lies in ecopedagogy and learning for sustainability and community-led climate and environmental action.
Grants
- GALLANT (Glasgow as a Living Laboratory for Accelerating Novel Transitions), January 2022 -January 2027 (NERC), £10.2M, Co-I.
- Global Systems Solutions for Global Soil Health and Soil Heritage, February 2022-March 2022, (NERC), £8,576
- Hidden Environmental Histories of the River Clyde, June-September 2021, (UKRI (NERC/AHRC), £4,914.78, Co-I's: University of Glasgow (Prof Jaime Toney; Prof Minty Donald; Prof Denis Fischbacher-Smith; Prof John Crawford; Dr Rhys Williams; Prof Simon Naylor, Dr John MacDonald,) GCPH (Dr Russell Jones); Glasgow City Council (Gillian Dick; Dr Duncan Booker; Katie Dargie), David Livingstone Birthplace (Alasdair Campbell, Elena Trimarchi), Hunterian Museum (Dr John Faithful) Advisory board: Shruti Jain, Dr Stephen Mullen, Dr Karen Cameron).
- European Commission EU Development Education and Awareness Raising (DEAR): Walk the Global Walk Project, September 2017- August 2021 (Awarded 270,000 EUR, Co-I: Ria Dunkley).
- Baillie, L (PI); Dunkley, R. (Co-I); MacBridge-Stewart, S. (Co-I), Thomas, L. (Co-I). Using biodiversity research as a catalyst for community-based co-production studies, Public Engagement Coproduction Award, Cardiff University, September 2020- September 2021: £11,341.24.
- "National Coastal Change Assessment 2: Enhancing the evidence base and our ability to adapt", Application for Research and Development Project for the Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW), PI: Professor Jim Hansom, Co-I: Dr Larissa Naylor; Dr Ria Dunkley; Dr Martin Hurst; Dr Richard Williams (£237,774.70, December 2017).
- Spark funder crowdfunding: Spot-a-Bee: Mapping the Urban Garden Bee, January 2020-January 2022 (Awarded: £3,577.50, PI: Ria Dunkley).
- Chancellors Award, University of Glasgow: Spot-a-Bee 2.0: Gathering pharmaceutical data and enhancing environmental learning opportunities and conservation efforts through plant-based citizen science, Nov 2019-Nov 2021 (Awarded: £2,500, PI: Ria Dunkley).
- School of Education, Small project award, Spot-a-Bee 2.0: Ecopedagogy through citizen science: Spot-a-Bee 2.0: a focus upon primary education settings, February 2020-June 2020 (Awarded: £4,765.20, PI: Ria Dunkley).
- Academic Returners and Research Support, University of Glasgow: Exploring environmental education in the context of National Parks in Scotland and the United States, June 2019-Nov 2020 (Awarded: £10,000, PI: Ria Dunkley).
- "Impact study, British Council school programmes in Scotland", PI-Professor Kay Livingstone; PI: Professor Catherine Doherty, Co-I: Professor Trevor Gale; Co-I: Dr Catherine Lido; Co-I: Dr Ria Dunkley; Co-I: Dr Stephen Parker (£52,358.92, December 2017).
- Writing workshop at the University of Stavanger on young people and gardens, the University of Stavanger, Faculty of Arts and Education Project Development Grant, PI – Barbara Maria Sageidet; Co-I: Ria Dunkley; Co-I: Sylvia Almeida (20,000NOK) (October 2016)
- International interdisciplinary workshop on Environmental Governance, British Council grant to participate, University of Brasilia, Brazil, 4-8 July 2016.
- Exploring the motivations and experiences of environmental citizen scientists: A comparative study of two citizen science learning spaces, Sustainable places research institute data collection fund award (£2,975.59, PI: Ria Dunkley).
- ESRC Impact Acceleration Account: Building evaluative capacity amongst outdoor learning practitioners: Enhancing user experience understanding through place-based research methodologies, January 2016 -December 2016 (Awarded ESRC £2,858.00, PI).
- Santander grant to establish a citizen science project: "spotabee.buzz" (Awarded Santander, £5,000, Co-I: Ria Dunkley & Co-I: Professor Les Baillie).
- Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP) award for hosting placement students for the research project: 'The Campus as a Living Laboratory – sustainable place-making through visualisations', July 2015 (Awarded Cardiff University, £1,440, PI).
- GW4 Initiator fund: 'Sustainability, Place and Memory': An Environmental Humanities Network, 2015 (Awarded £5,106 GW4) (PI: Dr Nicola Whyte, Co-I: Ria Dunkley, Co-I, Professor Peter Coates, Co-I, Professor Axel Goodbody)
- ERASMUS+ Teaching mobility placement, Luleå University of Technology, ERASMUS 2015 (Awarded EU funds 1,480 EUR)
- Canal and Rivers Trust (CRT) – Devising a Public Benefits Outcome Framework, 2014 (Awarded CRT, £40,000) (PI: Professor Terry Marsden, Co-I: Dr Ria Dunkley; Co-I: Dr Alex Franklin)
- Two Cardiff Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (CUROP) awards to host placement students for the research project: 'The University Campus as a Living Laboratory – Exploring place-based learning approaches to Education for Sustainability', July 2014 (Awarded Cardiff University, £2,720, PI).
- Funding to host a HEA Seminar at Cardiff University: 'The Campus as a Living Laboratory: Place-based Approaches to Education for Sustainability, 2013. (Awarded HEA, £750.00) (PI).
- 'Sensing, sense-making and sustainable place-making: An arts & social science collaborative network', 2013, (Awarded AHRC, £39,920.51) (PI: Professor Karen Henwood, Co-I: Professor Carl Lavery, Co-I, Dr Ria Dunkley, Co-I: Dr Chis Groves).
- 'Creative Resilience through Community Imaginings', 2013, (Awarded AHRC, £11,939) (PI: Professor Ann Light; Co-I: Dr Carl Lavery; Co-I: Dr Ruth Rettie; Co-I: Dr Katrina Brown; Co-I: Dr Ria Dunkley.
- University of Wales, Doctoral Scholarship, 2004-2007 (Fees & Living Stipend).
Supervision
Ria has supported Masters's Students through their dissertations in various subjects within the field of human geography and education studies. She currently supervises Postgraduate students within the School of Education, through the MEd Professional Practice programme.
She currently supervised the following doctoral candidates within the School of Education:
- Ruiqi Jiang Exploring the concept of formal environmental education: by comparing the curriculum practices in China and UK.
- Christian Mathers (2021/24) Beauty as well as Bread: A systems perspective of the John Muir Award (JMA) as a multifunctional intervention for environmental sustainability, public health and social equity in Scotland.
- Kirsten Somerville (2021/24) Earth Writing: Teaching Geographical Processes through Narrative and Poetic Expression.
Ria has acted as an internal and external examiner for PhD and MRes theses at Erasmus University Rotterdam; the University of Otago (New Zealand), La Trobe University (Australia); the University of Birmingham; University of Hull & Cardiff Metropolitan University.
I'm happy to hear from students interested in pursuing research projects in environmental education, education for sustainability, climate change education, community engagement in environmental and climate-related local action and citizen science.
- Affiah, Uduak
Vulnerability of the Nigerian coastal communities to climate change induced coastal hazard. - Hamilton, Sarah-Jane
Ecopedagogy for accelerating a city-wide just energy transition in Glasgow - Jiang, Ruiqi
Exploring the concept of formal environmental education - Somerville, Kirsten
Earth Writing: Teaching Glacial Processes through Creative Expression
Brighid Golden Thesis title: Exploring the potential of development education within initial teacher education in Ireland to develop critical thinking and a commitment to social justice in its students.
Shuqi Rao (2017/20) The Challenge of Unity among Diversity: A Comparative Study of National Identity Education in the Context of Globalization in China and Scotland (University of Glasgow).
Alister Foreman (2014/17) Energy and equity revisited: examining local approaches to energy justice through community renewables development in Wales (Cardiff University).
Justyna Prosser (2014/17) The role and transformative potential of finance in mutual ownership model in UK peripheral places (Cardiff University).
Teaching
I teach undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the areas of geography, environment and sustainability.
List of teaching roles on the Masters of Education (MEduc Primary):
- Rethinking Education and Society, Course Convenor (L4, 2017 & 2020/-present).
- Education and Society, Course Convenor (L3, 2019/-present)
- Education Enquiry (L4, 2019/-present)
- Education and Society (L1, 2019/20)
- Education and Society (L2, 2017/18)
- Education Enquiry (L3, 2017/18)
- Education in Practice (L3, 2017/18)
- Heritage Citizenship and Sustainability (L3, 2017/18)
- Education in Practice (L4, 2017/18)
- Advisor of Studies (2017/-present
PgDE in Primary Education - Social Studies - Geography (2017/18).
MEd Professional Practice (2017-20 Dissertation supervision)
MSc Education Studies (2017/18 Dissertation supervision)
MSc Adult and Continuing Education (2017/18 Dissertation supervision)
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and earned distinction for my PgC in Teaching in Higher Education (2007). Also an honorary fellow of the Institute of Teaching and Learning at Warwick University (2016-2021).
Additional information
Professional Qualifications
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2007).
- PRINCE2® (PRojects IN Controlled Environments), Accredited Practitioner (2012).
- Professional Certificate in Environmental Management, Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), Distinction (2012).
Professional Memberships
- Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
- Member of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
- Member of the Scottish Association of Geography Teachers
- Member of National Association for Environmental Education
- Member of Global Environmental Education Partnership
- Member of the Association of Heritage Interpretation
Academic Refereeing
Area, Environmental Science & Policy, Journal of Environmental Policy, Mobilities, Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene; Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Tourism Management, International Journal of Tourism Research, Tourism, Routledge, Journal of Adult and Continuing Education, Leisure Studies, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, International Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, Education Research.
