Project Lead
Dr Federico López-Terra
Dr Federico Lopez-Terra is an academic in Hispanic Studies and Translation in the Department of Modern Languages, Translation and Interpreting at Swansea University. He previously worked as Teaching Fellow in Translation, Hispanic and Lusophone Studies at the University of Leeds and the University of Sheffield. Dr Lopez-Terra received his PhD from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid in 2013 with summa cum laude. He is the holder of a HEA Fellowship.
His first monograph El sujeto difuso: análisis de la socialidad en el discurso literario a study on comparative literature and cultural semiotics with a functional linguistics approach (CDA) approach was published by CSIC in 2016. He has also published articles on the cultural impact of the 2008 Spanish crisis; on Spanish, Cuban and Uruguayan contemporary theatre; and on Digital Ecology with emphasis on social media platforms such as Twitter. His research interests include the comparative study of Hispanic and Lusophone cultures in the 20th and 21st centuries, Cultural Semiotics, Comparative Literature and Theory. He is a regular contributor to The Conversation in its UK and Spain editions, as well as other media outlets such as France24 or ABC Radio, Australia.
Why is Federico involved in this project?
As an expert in cultural semiotics and crisis cultures, it’s only natural to engage with one of humanity’s most pressing challenges—the climate crisis. The intricate nature of this crisis compels us to embrace collaboration and bridge disciplinary divides to effect meaningful change in real lives. Working alongside colleagues of diverse backgrounds and expertise has proven both challenging and profoundly enriching, underscoring the importance of unity in purpose. This project embodies my ethos of blending theory with practical research, driving us towards effective and tangible outcomes.
Dr Federico Lopez-Terra – Swansea University
Psychologists
Dr Amy Isham
Dr Amy Isham is Lecturer in Psychology. She is an Environmental Psychologist whose research explores the relationship between psychological wellbeing and ecological sustainability. This work covers the factors that can help or hinder people’s ability to live both well and sustainably. She has particular interests in the impact of consumer culture upon personal and societal wellbeing as well as how psychological states such as flow or mindfulness may be able to support less materialistic flourishing.
Amy completed her PhD at the University of Surrey, working within the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP). Her PhD research examined the relevance of psychological ‘flow’ to the relationship between materialism and reduced personal well-being. Amy continues to collaborate with CUSP on research relating to the psychological dimensions of sustainable prosperity.
Prior to starting her PhD, Amy completed a BSc (Hons) in Psychology at the University of Warwick and a MSc in Psychology of Advertising at Lancaster University. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Why is Amy involved in this project?
I am supporting the quantitative evaluation of the narrative intervention, documenting its impacts on factors such as climate-related emotions, perceptions, and agency. I am an Environmental Psychologist whose work examines the relationship between human wellbeing and climate change/ecological sustainability. To this project I am bringing my expertise in human behaviour change and the psychological consequences of climate change awareness.
Dr Amy Isham – Swansea University
Professor Andrew Kemp
Professor Andrew Kemp is a Professor of Psychology and Research Lead for the School of Psychology. Andrew teaches and conducts research in existential positive psychology, wellbeing science and climate psychology.
Andrew came to Swansea in 2016 from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil (2013-2015), and before this, the University of Sydney in Australia. He holds a BA(Hons) in psychology from the University of Melbourne (1999) and a PhD in neuropsychopharmacology from Swinburne University of Technology (2004). He also holds a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Melbourne (2018), recognising outstanding, innovative and creative contributions to the field.
Why is Andrew involved in this project?
I am passionate about projects that align my love of the discipline of psychology with my dread over the ever-worsening climate crisis. The ENACT project explores important research questions in regard to how we might use stories – and storytelling – to trigger personal agency and empowerment. This is important because a major challenge to successfully tackling the crisis is a sense of hopelessness and the feeling that the problem is so great that we sit on our hands and do nothing! This project has great potential to help us to explore opportunity alongside crisis.
Professor Andrew Kemp – Swansea University
Cultural Analysts
Dr Chris Pak
Chris Pak specialises in the study of Science Fiction and was an Arthur C. Clarke award judge from 2018-2020. He obtained a BA in English Language and Literature, an MA in Science Fiction Studies and a PhD at The University of Liverpool’s Department of English. His first postdoctoral appointment was as a researcher on the Leverhulme-funded Corpus Linguistics project, “‘People’, ‘Products’, ‘Pests’ and ‘Pets: The Discursive Representation of Animals’” (Lancaster University), his second on the Volkswagen-funded Digital Humanities project, “Modelling Between Digital and Humanities: Thinking in Practice” (King’s Digital Lab). He is the author of Terraforming: Ecopolitical Transformations and Environmentalism in Science Fiction (Liverpool University Press, 2016), a contribution to the Environmental Humanities, Utopian Studies and Postcolonialism that analyses how transformations to environments in science fiction interrogate the global politics of climate change and the Anthropocene.
Why is Chris involved in this project?
Climate anxiety is a key theme in science fiction, particularly as it relates to the fictional expression of anxiety and anticipation about the future. As a science fiction scholar who specialises in climate change, terraforming and geoengineering and the transformation of space (not simply outer space, but also landscape and place on Earth), climate anxiety is a crucial area of investigation. The ENACT project enables engagement with science fiction’s ability to examine and interrogate orientations to a future subject to radical transformations brought about by changing climates. I’m fascinated about how the resources offered by science fiction could enable people to engage with and express their own orientation to the future.
Dr Chris Pak – Swansea University
Dr Geraldine Lublin
Geraldine Lublin’s primary research area is Patagonia in historical perspective. She is the author of Memoir and Identity in Welsh Patagonia: Voices from a settler community in Argentina (UWP, 2017), which critically explores autobiographical materials written by Welsh descendants towards the end of the twentieth century. Her initial focus on the ‘special’ standing of the Welsh community in Chubut in relation to the region and the rest of Argentina led her to develop an interest in the wider dynamics of the region, including nation-building in Argentina, indigenous populations and settler colonial theory.
Wider research interests include Latin American identities and nation-building, diasporas and transnational groups, interculturalism and digital humanities. Through her training and professional practice, she has also gained expertise in Translation Studies and Welsh-medium teaching. Geraldine has recently been inspired by Pedagogy of Degrowth approaches to undertake projects which contribute to highlight how the climate crisis, global inequalities and the dominant growth-oriented economic culture are closely interrelated.
She is Co-Director of CEPSAM (the Centre for the Comparative Study of Portugal, Spain and the Americas) at Swansea University.
Why is Gerladine involved in this project?
Dr Geraldine Lublin – Swansea University
Research Assistants
Rory Tucker
Research Assistant and PhD Psychology Candidate in the School of Psychology, Swansea University
I am involved in the ENACT project as I think it’s a great chance to build experience working in an interdisciplinary team, all working together for a really important project. I feel like I am really able to contribute to the work with my background in psychology and particularly statistical analysis. I think it’s a very important subject and that understanding education around climate change is a vital step that needs to be done to fight it. Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to research it in my own field so I am very excited and keen to have the chance to in this project!”
Robert John Yarr
Research Assistant and Latin American Studies Masters by Research Student in the School of Culture & Communication, Swansea University.
I am involved in this project as it aligns with my belief that significant changes are needed to address the climate crisis, from a corporate level to a societal and individual level.
Having witnessed extreme weather events and changes to the climate in South America over just a handful of years, I am keen to be involved in the project as someone with an active interest in the climate, politics and social movements in Latin America.