Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Geography
Staff Profile
Ms Kellie Payne
k.c.payne@open.ac.uk
Research Student
Geography
Qualifications
B.A. Sociology and English Literature, University of Illinois at Chicago
MSc Culture and Society, London School of Economics
Profile
The topic of my PhD is culture and climate change and I am interested in how cultural producers are dealing with climate change. More specifically I am looking at the cultural climate around the time of the UN COP15 summit in Copenhagen in December, 2009. This includes contemporary art exhibitions held in London and Copenhagen, the subsequent publishing of Ian McEwan's Solar and plays produced in London in 2010.
My PhD is part of the Mediating Change project co-sponsored by the Ashden Trust, an environmental charity that supports among other things, cultural work on climate change. My supervisors are Joe Smith and Clive Barnett and my external supervisor is the former theatre critic and current writer and blogger, Robert Butler.
Prior to studying at the OU, I worked as a Research Communications Executive at AHDB-HGCA, the levy board for cereals and oilseeds. Working in knowledge transfer and science communications, I contributed to a Defra-funded project, Farming Futures, which sought to communicate messages about climate change to UK farmers.
I have lived in the UK since 2004, when I relocated to pursue my MSc at the LSE. Prior to moving to London, I lived in Illinois where I attended high school and college. I have also lived in Brisbane, Australia and Manhattan, Kansas.
Last updated: 14 April 2011