Biography
Dr James Porter is a Lecturer in Human Geography, who is interested in climate change adaptation science and decision-making, flood risk management and modelling, and science-policy debates.
James completed his BA, MRes, and PhD at King's. His PhD research focused on the how flood risk science and policy come to shape one another through the management of flood risk (and therein why we continue to build properties in risky places).
In 2012, James took up a European Research Council (ERC) research fellowship at the University of Leeds as part of the ICAD Project. The research focused on how climate change adaptation knowledge is produced, the challenges faced, and the extent to which that knowledge informs decision-making.
In 2016, James joined the Twenty-65 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as a research fellow at the University of Sheffield, to explore how different actors work together (and more pointedly the barriers they face in doing that) around water innovation.
Research
- Flood risk management, modelling and policy
- Climate change adaptation science and decision-making
- Environmental science and policymaking
- Experts, judgement and decision-support tools
James is an environmental geographer whose research focuses on the complex relationship between environmental knowledge, expertise and decision-making, particularly in the context of science and policy with regard to climate adaptation services and flood risk management.
He has worked closely with climate scientists, for instance, involved in the production of climate information, as well as a wide range of decision-makers who have used that information, to understand the challenges faced by each so as to better understand climate inaction.
Teaching
James is the co-director of the MSc Climate Change: Science and Policy degree programme and serves as the module convener on the policy pathway. He contributes to both the undergraduate and postgraduate modules, on environmental knowledge, risk management to research skills.
Undergraduate
- 6SSG3083 Policy and Application
- 5SSG2063 Research Tutorials
- 4SSG1008 Geography Tutorials: Critical Thinking and Techniques
- 4SSG1014 Geographical Foundations 1 and 2
Postgraduate
- 7SSG5165 Environmental Science and Policymaking
- 7SSG5177 Global Environmental Change 2: Earth System Dynamics
- 7SSG5002 Practising Social Research
Further details
See James's research profile
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Brimicombe, C., Porter, J. J., Di Napoli, C., Pappenberger, F., Cornforth, R., Petty, C. & Cloke, H. L., Feb 2021, In: Environmental Science and Policy. 116, p. 1-7 7 p. Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review. DOIs: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.10.021
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Porter, J., 2012, In: CULTURAL GEOGRAPHIES. Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
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Porter, J., 2013, In: SCIENCE AS CULTURE. Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
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Porter, J., 2013, In: ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING D. Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
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Porter, J. & Randalls, S., 2014, In: GEOFORUM. Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
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Porter, J. & Demeritt, D., 2012, In: Environment and Planning A. Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Porter, J., Dessai, S. & Tompkins, E., 2014, In: CLIMATIC CHANGE. 127 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Smith, A., Porter, J. & Upham, P., 2016, In: Journal of environmental planning and management. 60, 2 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Skelton, M., Porter, J., Dessai, S., Bresch, D. & Knutti, R., 2017, In: Regional environmental change. 17 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Porter, J. & Dessai, S., 2017, In: Environmental science & policy. 77 Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review