Biography
Professor David Demeritt is an elected fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and Professor of Geography, best known for his ability to bridge the discipline’s human-physical divide. He has extensive practical experience of senior university management, incubating and leading multidisciplinary environmental research projects, and successfully collaborating with partners in government, non-governmental organisations and industry.
An American expat, he completed degrees in history (BA) and Quaternary Science (MSc) from the University of Maine before moving into Geography and completing his PhD at the University of British Columbia. After completing a postdoctoral position on climate change policy with Environment Canada, he took up a geography lectureship at Bristol University and later joined King's in 1999.
David is a member of the Peer Review Colleges for both the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). He served a previous term on the NERC's Peer Review College (2007-10) and on the ESRC Grants Assessment Panel (2010-15). He also serves on the Steering Group for the UK Government's Natural Hazards Partnership and the Theme Advisory Group for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)/Environment Agency Flood & Coastal Erosion Risk Management Research and Development programme.
Within King’s, he has served as Head of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Social Sciences & Public Policy, and as the Principle Investigator and first Director of the King's Interdisciplinary Social Science (KISS) Doctoral Training Centre.
Research
- Environmental politics and policy, especially the construction and management of environmental risks
- Risk communication, regulation and governance, especially of natural hazards like flooding and climate change
- Science studies and social theory, especially the philosophy of science and understandings of risk and science
Technical expertise in the natural sciences makes David relatively unique amongst human geographers and enables him to bridge the gulf in the discipline between human and physical approaches to the environment. A unifying theme in his research and teaching is his expertise in nature-society, including the articulation of environmental knowledge, especially scientific and technical ones, with power and the policy process.
He is one of the co-directors of the recently awarded Leverhulme Centre for Wildfires, Environment and Society, and has previously been Principle Investigator or Co-Investigator on some 30 research grants from the UK Research Councils, European Union, leading charities and UK Government Departments worth more than £3 million.
Recent projects include:
Teaching
Undergraduate
- 6SSG3058 Environmental Risk, Governance and Society
- 4SSG1016 Geography in Action
Postgraduate
- 7SSG/5002 Practicing Social Research
- 7SSG5165 Environmental Science and Policymaking
PhD supervision
David has successfully supervised 20+ PhD students working on topics ranging from environmental regulation to science policy. In particular, work in the following areas would fit well with his current research commitments:
- Risk regulation and governance
- Flood risk and its management
- Wildfire and land use/land use cover change, particularly at the wildland-urban interface
Prospective students interested in working in these areas should contact him directly by sending a CV and the precis of a research proposal.
Further details
See David's research profile
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Wang, L., Demeritt, D. & Rothstein, H., 30 Jan 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Risk Research. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2023.2170451
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Wang, L., Demeritt, D. & Rothstein, H., 4 May 2022, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Regulation and Governance. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12467
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Rothstein, H., Demeritt, D., Paul, R. & Wang, L., 1 Feb 2021, (Accepted/In press) COVID-19 across 5 continents: Social Challenges, Responses and Consequences. Brown, P. & Zinn, J. (eds.). Palgrave Macmillan Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Borraz, O., Beaussier, A-L., Demeritt, D., Hermans, M., Huber, M., Paul, R., Rothstein, H. & Wesseling, M., 19 May 2020, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Regulation & Governance. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/doi:10.1111/rego.12320
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Beaussier, A-L., Demeritt, D., Rothstein, H. & Griffiths, A., May 2020, In: HEALTH POLICY. 124, 5, p. 501-510 10 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2020.02.012
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Rothstein, H., Paul, R. & Demeritt, D., Jan 2020, In: Governance. 33, 1, p. 21-39 19 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1111/gove.12411
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Liu, F. H. M., Demeritt, D. & Tang, S., Aug 2019, In: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY. 95, 4, p. 362-384 23 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1080/00130095.2018.1544461
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Demeritt, D., Stephens, E. M., Créton-Cazanave, L., Lutoff, C., Ruin, I. & Nobert, S., 1 Jan 2019, Handbook of Hydrometeorological Ensemble Forecasting. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, p. 1131-1160 30 p. Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39925-1_44
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Tang, S. W. S. & Demeritt, D. B., May 2018, In: Business Strategy and The Environment . 27, p. 437–455 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1985
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Rothstein, H. F., Demeritt, D. B., Paul, R., Beaussier, A-L. M. V., Wesseling, M., Howard, M., de Haan, M., Borraz, O., Huber, M. & Bouder, F., 8 Sep 2017, (E-pub ahead of print) In: SOCIO-ECONOMIC REVIEW. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1093/ser/mwx029