Dr Tim Acott

Dr Tim Acott graduated with a BSc Hons in Environmental Science from the University of Plymouth in 1989. He subsequently completed a PhD at the University of Stirling and started to lecture at the University of Greenwich in 1993. He has had numerous administrative roles while at the University of Greenwich including Director of Learning & Quality for the Natural Resources Institute. Dr Acott is currently programme leader for BA Hons / BSc Hons Geography and BSc Hons Environmental Science and plays a central role in running the university's Centre for Sustainability.

His academic interests revolve around a social science perspective on environment and sustainability issues. To explore this subject area he crosses a number of subject boundaries including: environmental ethics, sustainable development, landscape, sense of place, environmental sociology, social and cultural dimensions of marine fisheries, GIS, actor network theory, hybrid geography, wildness, sustainability, allotments as hybrid spaces, and qualitative research methods. In addition to his academic portfolio Dr Acott also actively explores different environments through painting and photography.

Responsibilities within the university

Course Leader

Sustainability: Principles and Practise (MSc)
Global Environmental Issues
Regeneration and the Thames Gateway
Sustainability: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
Geography and Environmental Science Dissertation
Research Methods for Geography and Environmental Science
Geography and Tourism and Development
Readings in Geography and Environmental Science
People, Place and Environment

Course participation

Environmental Management
Society, Economy and Sustainability
Research Design and Methods (MSc)

Research

Dr Acott's research interests can be broadly grouped under the heading 'environmental geography'. He is interested in the myriad and diverse entanglements of people and nature as seen through an interdisciplinary perspective and is happy to cross the borders of science and art in order to bring new perspectives to contemporary issues with sustainability as a central element.

Tim is currently Principal Investigator for a European INTERREG 4a funded collaborative project, CHARM III (Channel Habitat Atlas for Resource Management), investigating the contribution of marine fishing to sense of place and identity in coastal communities on both sides of the English Channel. He has worked on research projects spanning environmental conservation, sustainable tourism, ecotourism and environmental ethics.

He is a member of the School of Science Environment and Sustainability Research Cluster and also runs the Social, Economic & Environment Research Group (SEERG) in the School.

Other areas include working as a natural scientist in image analysis, soil micromorphology, and archaeology.

Publications

Acott, T.G., and McGibbon, MMG., (2007) Environmental science and sustainability: some critical thoughts. Environment Sciences, 4(4), pp. 199–207.

Acott, T.G., and Woodland, M. (2007) Sustainability and local tourism branding in England's South Downs. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 15(6), pp. 715–34.

Butler, W., and Acott, T.G. (2007) An inquiry concerning the acceptance of intrinsic value theories of nature. Environmental Values, 16, pp. 149–68.

Acott, T.G. (2006) Exploring environmental issues: an integrated approach by D. Kemp. Book review, Holocene, 16, 464.

Acott, T.G. et al (2003) The experimental earthwork at Wareham, Dorset. Journal of Archaeological Science, 30(1), pp. 77­­–93 (17)

La Trobe, H., and Acott, T.G. (2000) Localising the global food system. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology, 7(4), pp. 309–20.

La Trobe, H., and Acott, T.G. (2000) A modified NEP / DSP environmental attitude scale. Journal of Environmental Education, 32(1), pp. 12–20.