SURF Mentoring
Potential projects/topics: I have ongoing research projects in many parts of the world focused on energy transition and climate adaptation. Locally, in Houston, I am currently studying decarbonization through electrification initiatives. And I am also working on green stormwater infrastructure education and design in Northeast Houston (Houston/Trinity/Kashmere Gardens). It's possible there will be undergraduate research opportunities connected with these projects in the summer of 2023.
Potential skills gained: Interviewing; fieldwork; data analysis
Required qualifications: There is no specific coursework required but some familiarity with anthropological and/or sociological research methods would be a plus.
Direct mentor: Faculty/P.I.
Research Areas
Dr. Dominic Boyer is an anthropologist specializing in the study of energy, climate, politics and society. With Prof. Cymene Howe, he recently completed a large NSF-funded field research project on the political culture of wind power development in Southern Mexico. He is currently researching competing models of electricity provision and their social implications in Europe, the United States and Latin America. And with Dr. Mark Vardy he is doing NSF-sponsored field research in Houston with victims of Hurricane Harvey. His previous work concerned the practice of news journalism in Germany and the United States and demonstrated how the rise of new digital information technology combined with the spread of neoliberal policy regimes to profoundly unsettle broadcast-era patterns of newsmaking and news circulation, thus forcing news journalists to reinvent their expertise and authority. Future comparative research, also with Prof. Howe, will focus on the cultural and social dimensions of ice loss and sea level rise across the world.
