Dr Merryn Thomas (she/her)

My interdisciplinary research draws on geography, psychology, and social science and I have a longstanding interest in using quantitative, qualitative, and creative methods to engage diverse publics with environmental issues. I am currently working on the societal work package of the EU PUSH-IT project (Piloting Underground Storage of Heat In geoThermal reservoirs), which aims to overcome the seasonal mismatch between heat demand and heat generation from sustainable sources using underground heat storage. 

I hold a BA in Geography (University of Oxford), MSc in the Science of Natural Hazards (University of Bristol) and PhD in Psychology (Cardiff University). I completed my PhD in 2013 using a mixed-methods, mental-models approach to explore public and expert perceptions of sea-level change. I then held two post-doctoral positions in the School of Psychology at Cardiff University. An NSF-funded project (with UCSB Santa Barbara) used deliberative workshops and roleplay to explore public perceptions of shale gas development in the UK and USA, while NERC-funded CoastWEB used in-depth mobile interviews to better understand the connections between coastal habitats and human health and wellbeing.

From 2020, I worked with the Freshwater Interdisciplinary Research and Engagement (FIRE) Lab in Biosciences at Swansea University, using various creative methods, stakeholder interviews and surveys to connect and explore people’s relationships with freshwater environments. I joined The Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research in September 2022, where I led the UKRI funded project, ‘Understanding Older people’s PerspecTives and Imaginaries of Climate change (OPTIC)’.