Cardiff University

Photo of Rhoda Ballinger

Dr. Rhoda Ballinger

Reader, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University

Rhoda gained a degree in Geography and PhD from the University of Wales College, Aberystwyth.  She is currently theme leader for the Geography programmes in the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University and is the Director of the School’s Marine Geography programme. She has over twenty years experience researching and teaching aspects of coastal management in Europe as well as practical experience of estuary management, particularly through the Severn Estuary Partnership.  Her research focuses on science-policy integration as well as on stakeholder and policy analysis in the context of coastal change. Recent projects include IMCORE,  RESILCOAST and COASTWEB as well as smaller scale projects for Welsh Government and others on marine planning. As part of many of these applied, interdisciplinary projects she has worked extensively with coastal stakeholders to develop a range of training materials.

Photo of Emma McKinley

Dr. Emma McKinley

Research Fellow, Cardiff University

Emma (@EmmaJMcKinley) is a Research Fellow at Cardiff University, working on the CCAT project to understand community attitudes and perceptions towards climate change and will be drawing on models of marine citizenship to examine the concept of climate citizenship.

An experienced mixed methods researcher, Emma applies a diverse range of techniques to understanding human connection to the global oceans, and has worked on topics including; marine spatial planning, ecosystem services, public perceptions and attitudes towards marine issues, marine citizenship and ocean literacy, coastal community resilience and sustainability and the Blue Growth agenda, focusing on supporting a sustainable ‘blue’ economy. In September 2018, Emma launched the Marine Social Science Network; a global, interdisciplinary community of researchers and practitioners working in and around the fields of marine social sciences, which she chairs. Additionally, Emma is also the Chair of the Royal Geographic Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Coastal and Marine Research Group, co-chair of the British Ecological Society Wales Policy Group, and sits on the Marine Social Science Task Force of the UK’s Marine Science Coordinating Committee.