Geography, Geology and the Environment

I studied at The University of Nottingham from 2004 to 2008, graduating with a BSc Hons Degree in Geography and an MSc in Environmental Management. Between graduating and coming to Keele in January 2011 I lived and worked in Australia for over a year and worked in a secondary school in Manchester. At Keele I work part-time in two different job roles, these are:

1. Project Officer: for a three year research project funded by the Higher Education Academy’s National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (HEA NTFS), entitled: ‘Hybrid problem-based learning: a scalable approach to sustainability education?’. This project is a collaboration between Keele University, The University of Manchester and Staffordshire University. The project focuses on the development of sustainability education and graduate attributes within the student population using an interdisciplinary hybrid problem-based learning (PBL) approach. To find out more about the project please visit our website.

2. Research Assistant: for a two year HEA GEES funded project. This project involves an innovative initiative being undertaken to create a culture of sustainability at Keele University by a group of students from the BSc Environment and Sustainability course who have turned a standard 1960s bungalow on campus into an exemplar of sustainable living; the ‘sustainable student house’ (SSH). My research role focuses on evaluating the impact of the SSH on the wider Keele community and compares the impacts (environmental, financial, and behavioural) of ‘normal’ student living with that of the SSH students. To find out more about the project please have a look at the student's website and blog.

I also worked as a researcher on a project which developed interactive resources, activities and advice for students on interdisciplinary sustainability degree programmes: Interactive Resources for Interdisciplinary Sustainability (IRIS).

I am in the third year of my PhD research which focuses on the relationship between the Sustainable Development (SD) agenda within Higher Education (HE) in England and the backdrop of Neoliberal and New Public Management (NPM) political-economic influence within the sector. I am exploring the evolution and impact of Neoliberalism/NPM within English HE and the extent to which these ideologies/movements enable and/or restrict the advancement of sustainability education, research and policy.

I work as a course developer and lecturer on Keele’s only sustainability based free-elective module which is open to all first years; entitled ‘Greening Business: Employability and Sustainability’. This module provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the environmental responsibilities of businesses and builds the practical skills needed to improve environmental performance in the workplace. We aim to build sustainability capabilities and life skills within the student population as well as professional employability skills through a focus on team work, diplomacy and problem solving.

Get in touch with me via Twitter @SophieBessant1, Facebook or Linked in.