Dr Matthew Cotton
Lecturer
Room number: D11a
Telephone (internal): 26183
Telephone (UK): 0114 2226183
Telephone (international): +44 114 2226183
Email: m.cotton@sheffield.ac.uk
Academic Profile
I joined the Department of Town and Regional Planning as a Lecturer in April 2013, having held a previous lecturing position in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds, and research positions in the Department of Geography at Exeter University and the Manchester Architecture Research Centre at Manchester University. I was awarded a PhD in Environmental Science from the University of East Anglia (2009), and I also hold an MSc in Social Research Methods, and a BA in International Studies and Political Science.
Research interests
My research and teaching interests lie in the social and ethical dimensions of environmental policy and planning. In particular I’m concerned with the role of public and stakeholder participation in environmental planning decisions, energy policy analysis and the governance of technological risk. Mostly my research has focussed on planning processes for major infrastructure projects in the energy sector, encompassing nuclear power, shale gas, onshore wind, electricity transmission and distribution systems, and radioactive waste management.
I have a particular interest in the development of novel deliberative tools and techniques to facilitate public and stakeholder participation in planning decisions. I am also proficient in qualitative analysis of interview and focus group data, and the use of Q-methodology a combined quantitative-qualitative approach.
Key publications
- Cotton, M. and Devine-Wright, P. (forthcoming) “Putting pylons into place: a UK case study of public beliefs about the impacts of high voltage overhead transmission lines” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.
- Cotton, M. (2013) “Deliberating intergenerational environmental equity: a pragmatic, future studies approach” Environmental Values 22(3): 317-337.
- Cotton, M. and Devine-Wright, P. (2012) “Making electricity networks ‘visible’: industry actor representations of ‘publics’ and public engagement in infrastructure planning.” Public Understanding of Science 21(1): 17-35.
- Cotton, M. and Devine-Wright, P. (2011) “Discourses of energy infrastructure development: a Q-method study of electricity transmission line siting in the UK” Environment and Planning A 43(4): 942-960.
Other information
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society