Marina Nicolaidou

Member of the Science Society and Sustainability (3S) research group

Associated with the UKERC Public Engagement  Observatory

BSc in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (2016-2019)

MSc in Environmental Sciences (3S pathway) at the University of East Anglia (2019-2020)

MRes in Social Science Research Methods at the University of East Anglia (2022-2023)

I am a Postgraduate Researcher at the School of Environmental Sciences and an early career Science and Technology Studies (STS) scholar. I am also a member of the Science Society and Sustainability (3S) research group, and associated with the UKERC Public Engagement Observatory.

My research is looking develop a novel framework of reflexive futuremaking through public engagement with geoengineering-related science fiction (sci-fi). Through my project, I will bring together three themes: (1) geoengineering-related sci-fi; (2) public engagement; and (3) Science and Technology Studies (STS) work on appraisal methods (i.e. technology assessment, participatory technology assessment, responsible research and innovation etc.). The purpose of this will be to illustrate the diverse ways that public engagements with sci-fi related to geoengineering imagine and appraise futures differently across the system, and how this could be used to inform the ways we think about these technologies in present and future.                                                                          

My MSc thesis ‘Do Humans Dream of Electric Sheep?: An Alternative Appraisal of Technological Futures’ used the imagined future developed in Philip K. Dick’s novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’ (and Blade Runner films) as a case study to explore the co-production of sci-fi, sociotechnical imaginaries, and informal public engagement.

My MRes thesis ‘Whose Fictions Matter?: Mapping Public Engagements with Geoengineering-related Science Fiction’ mapped sci-fi texts and public engagements with these in order to establish the diverse imagined futures they bring forward and the ways in which these futures are appraised through five in-depth sci-fi case studies: (1) the Snowpiercer vision; (2) the Dune vision; (3) the Geostorm vision; (4) the Disruption vision; and (5) the How High We Go in the Dark vision.

I am currently undertaking my PhD research supervised by Professor Jason Chilvers and Dr. Helen Pallett. I am also an Associate Tutor at the School of Environmental Sciences.

Science fiction & futuremaking

Public engagement in futuremaking (formal and informal)

Sociotechnical visions of emerging technologies

Science and Technology Studies (STS)