Dr. Trish Morgan
Trish Morgan is an assistant professor in the School of Communications at Dublin City University. Her research is concerned with the systemic aspects of environmental crisis, and the communication of these multiple environmental issues. She approaches the communication of environmental issues through an interdisciplinary perspective from the domains of geography and communications, and through theory and practice-based approaches.
Her key research interest is in analysing the nature/society relationship through political economy, (urban) political ecology, human geography and environmental geography perspectives. This research takes a systemic approach by acknowledging environmental crisis as connected to nine planetary boundaries, and safe operating limits for society. She is interested in the urgency of communicating transition towards sustainability through novel communication approaches, doing this through traditional research, along with a multimedia practice that uses sound, photography, video and augmented reality.
She is currently the lead PI on a Research Ireland COALESCE Strand 2A interdisciplinary project. Titled SEED: Sensory Experiences of Environmental Data, this project examines and provides practical examples of novel communication of environmental data using all five senses. See here for the project website.
She is also currently a co-PI on a Research Ireland Discover project titled Climate Talk, along with PI's Jennifer Gaughran and Stephen Gammell in DCU's School of Physical Sciences. This project is in its third round of funding. See here for the project website.
She has completed (as PI) two EPA-funded research projects concerning the communication of environmental matters and the role of communications in behaviour change towards sustainability. She has most recently completed the project Sensing our world: How digital media cultural practices can contribute to changing social norms around consumption (2020). This project focused on the role of novel forms of communicating environmental data. This follows on from a previous EPA-funded research project, titled Going Green Digitally? Environmental Crisis, Consumption Patterns and the Evolving Role of Media (2017). This project centred on mainstream media and their role in fostering discourse and behaviour change around consumption practices and ecological sustainability.
Her recent creative works include 5km from home, stereo ORTF sound art work in response to COVID-19 in Ireland and The Miracle of the One Thing, a 12-track ecological sound art work with accompanying video.
Research Interests
Trish Morgan is an assistant professor in the School of Communications at Dublin City University. Her research is concerned with the systemic aspects of environmental crisis, and the communication of these multiple environmental issues. She approaches the communication of environmental issues through an interdisciplinary perspective from the domains of geography and communications, and through theory and practice-based approaches.
Her key research interest is in analysing the nature/society relationship through political economy, (urban) political ecology, human geography and environmental geography perspectives. This research takes a systemic approach by acknowledging environmental crisis as connected to nine planetary boundaries, and safe operating limits for society. She is interested in the urgency of communicating transition towards sustainability through novel communication approaches, doing this through traditional research, along with a multimedia practice that uses sound, photography, video and augmented reality.
She is currently the lead PI on a Research Ireland COALESCE Strand 2A interdisciplinary project. Titled SEED: Sensory Experiences of Environmental Data, this project examines and provides practical examples of novel communication of environmental data using all five senses. See here for the project website.
She is also currently a co-PI on a Research Ireland Discover project titled Climate Talk, along with PI's Jennifer Gaughran and Stephen Gammell in DCU's School of Physical Sciences. This project is in its third round of funding. See here for the project website.
She has completed (as PI) two EPA-funded research projects concerning the communication of environmental matters and the role of communications in behaviour change towards sustainability. She has most recently completed the project Sensing our world: How digital media cultural practices can contribute to changing social norms around consumption (2020). This project focused on the role of novel forms of communicating environmental data. This follows on from a previous EPA-funded research project, titled Going Green Digitally? Environmental Crisis, Consumption Patterns and the Evolving Role of Media (2017). This project centred on mainstream media and their role in fostering discourse and behaviour change around consumption practices and ecological sustainability.
Her recent creative works include 5km from home, stereo ORTF sound art work in response to COVID-19 in Ireland and The Miracle of the One Thing, a 12-track ecological sound art work with accompanying video.
Teaching Interests
My teaching draws on my interdisciplinary work in environmental geography and communications. It centres around exploring how contemporary nature/society relations, political economy, communication, and media systems help to shed light on the role of human impact on the Earth system. My work is influenced by the holistic perspective of the planetary boundaries framework, which does not treat specific environmental issues such as climate change, or biodiversity loss, in isolation. Rather, it encourages examination of environmental crises not as isolated phenomena, but as interconnected socio-ecological and political-economic challenges.
Some highlights of my current teaching in this area include modules on the Political Economy of the Environment and Communication, Culture, and the Environment, alongside practice-based environmental field recording in Environmental Storytelling. Through this emphasis on both critical theoretical perspectives and applied media production, I support students in analysing environmental issues critically and producing creative media narratives that combine academic rigour with novel communication.