Professor Susan Oliver
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Email
soliver@essex.ac.uk -
Location
5NW.4.3, Colchester Campus
Profile
Biography
Susan joined 糖心Vlog in 2010. She was elected a Fellow of the English Association in 2024. She is the author of two monographs, Walter Scott and the Greening of Scotland: Emergent Ecologies of a Nation (Cambridge University Press, 2021) and Scott, Byron and the Poetics of Cultural Encounter (Palgrave), for which she was awarded the British Academy鈥檚 Rose Mary Crawshay Prize (2007). She was invited editor of the Yearbook of English Studies 47 (2017) titled "Walter Scott: New Interpretations.鈥� Other publications include many articles and book chapters on Romantic studies, Scottish literature, and environmental writing. Her most recent publications focus on coastal Romanticisms; art, science and writing about the soil; and writing the ecologies of war. Susan is writing a new monograph about Transatlantic periodicals in the period 1790-1860, looking at the rise of a culture of principled independent journalism, and covering topics ranging from editors to multi-media reporting to environmentalism and travel. Susan has held research Fellowships at institutions including the American Philosophical Society, the Armstrong Browning Library, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Library Company of Philadelphia, The Huntington Library, the Modern Language Association, and the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. She is a Senior Member of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and in 2013 was made an Honorary Fellow in Literary Studies at The University of Wyoming. The latter appointment included several years of annual collaborative work with colleagues and students on their Laramie campus. A longstanding member of several professional associations, she is a Trustee of the Charles Lamb society and serves on the Editorial Boards of Romanticism on the Net (RoN), The Wordsworth Circle, and the Wenshan Review of Literature and Culture. The UKRI appointed Susan as a member of their Interdisciplinary Assessment College (IAC) and she is a member the AHRC Peer Review College. She is currently Director of Partnerships for Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies. She served as Faculty Dean of Research for Arts and Humanities between July 2019 and December 2022. Susan was the first person to be awarded PhD Supervisor of the Year in the Humanities in 2018, and had been earlier honoured with the University鈥檚 Motivational, Inspiring, and Empowering Women Award in 2017. Susan welcomes applications for postgraduate supervision in her fields of expertise. She has supervised 11 PhD students to the award of their doctorates.
Qualifications
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B.A. (Hons) English and European Literature 糖心Vlog,
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Ph.D. English University of Cambridge,
Appointments
糖心Vlog
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Faculty Dean (Research), Faculty of Arts and Humanities, 糖心Vlog (22/7/2019 - 31/12/2022)
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Director of Research, Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, 糖心Vlog (10/8/2015 - 17/8/2018)
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Academic Staffing Committee, Literature, Film, and Thatre Studies, 糖心Vlog (1/8/2014 - 31/7/2020)
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Collaborative Board, Centre for Environment and Society, 糖心Vlog (31/1/2016 - present)
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Athena SWAN Institutional Self Assessment Team, 糖心Vlog (3/12/2013 - present)
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Deputy Head of the Department, Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, 糖心Vlog (1/1/2024 - present)
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Director of Partnerships, Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, 糖心Vlog (1/1/2024 - present)
Other academic
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External Examiner, School of English, Communication and Philosophy, Cardiff University (1/9/2018 - 31/8/2022)
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Honorary Fellow in Literary Studies, English, University of Wyoming (1/1/2013 - present)
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Advisory Committee, MLA International Bibliography, Modern Language Association (1/7/2015 - 30/6/2018)
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Senior Bibliographer, MLA International Bibliography, Modern Language Association (1/7/2015 - present)
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Bibliographer, MLA International Bibliography, Modern Language Association (1/7/2009 - 30/6/2015)
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Bibliography Fellow, MLA International Bibliography, Modern Language Association (1/7/2005 - 30/6/2009)
Research and professional activities
Research interests
Romanticism and Romantic period literature and culture
Scottish literature
Late 18th Century British and American literature
19th century British and American literature
Periodicals and magazines
Transatlantic studies
I am a leading specialist in transatlantic studies, with a focus on the 18th, 19th and 21st centuries. My published work in this field includes many journal articles and book chapters. My current monograph project is on transatlantic periodicals 1790-1860 and the 21st century, looking at how those publications encouraged freedom of thought and created an exchange for knowledge and ideas that changed the world.
Ecocriticism
Borders and cultural encounters
Environmental literature
Romanticism
Walter Scott
I am a leading scholar in the study of Walter Scott and his writing. My recent focus has been on his interest in the land and environment. I have authored many publications on Scott, including two monographs, a journal special issue, several journal articles and several book chapters. I have given numerous public and academic talks on Scott and his work.
Charles Lamb studies
I am a leading scholar in Charles Lamb studies and a Trustee of The Charles Lamb Society. My publications include journal articles and book chapter. Lamb features prominently in a new monograph that I am writing on transatlantic periodical culture. I gave the Charles Lamb Birthday Lecture in 2023.
Current research
Climate Fiction of the Anthropocene
I am a specialist in environmental literature, ecocriticism, environmental humanities, and interdisciplinary environmental studies. I am Guest Co-Editor of, and a contributor to, this special edition of the Australian Journal of Environmental Eduction (Cambridge University Press). The other co-editors are Cassandra Tytler (Edith Cowan University), Joseph Paul Ferguson (Deakin University), and Peta J. White (Deakin University).
Sounding Scotland's Waters, 1800-1900: History, Literature, Science
I am an invited participant in this interdisciplinary project run by the University of St. Andrews and funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. There will be a series of workshops in Autumn 2024, followed by the publication of a collection of essays in 2025/26. My interdisciplinary contribution is on interrelationships between literature, art, and maritime meteorology in the early 19th Century. The project leader/PI at St Andrews is Dr Katie Garner. CI at St Andrews is Dr Asha Hornsby.
Climate Fiction of the Anthropocene
Co-editorship with Cassandra Tytler (Edith Cowan University), Joseph Paul Ferguson (Deakin University), and Peta J. White (Deakin University) of special edition of the Australian Journal of Environmental Education for August 2025. The edition will showcase contributions that: (1) theorise Cli-Fi and its vital role in environmental education; (2) investigate innovative interdisciplinary research that engages with Cli-Fi;
(3) and/or provide Cli-Fi as creative practice-as-research with various visual and auditory representations.
Conferences and presentations
Byron and the Mediterranean "Cult of the South": a Bicentennial Symposium
Invited presentation, Conference, Rome, Italy, 20/6/2024
Maritime Weather: Meteorology and the North, from Macpherson and Scott to J.M.W. Turner.
Invited presentation, 鈥淲alter Scott, North and South,鈥� The Thirteenth International Walter Scott Conference., University of South Carolina, Columbia, United States, 23/5/2024
鈥淟ife Below Ground: James Hutton, Theories of the Earth, and Imagined Animals.鈥�
Invited presentation, Soil-Dirt-Earth: Ecologies Below Ground (1750-1850)., University of Passau, Passau, Germany, 22/6/2023
Romanticism on the Coast, BARS/NASSR Salon
Invited presentation, New Romanticisms, Ormskirk, United Kingdom, 3/8/2022
"Fields of Conflict and Ecologies of War: Walter Scott鈥檚 Paul鈥檚 Letters to his Kinsfolk and the Site of Waterloo."
Invited presentation, British Romanticism and Europe, Ascona, Switzerland, 23/6/2022
The Bass Rock: J. M. W. Turner, Ecologies, and Transmutable Forms of an Inshore Island.
Invited presentation, Scotland鈥檚 Coastal Romanticisms Workshop, Edinburgh, Scotland, 5/2/2022
Transformative Geologies: Scott, Byron and the Stones of Italian Romance.
Invited presentation, Eco-Romanticism: Human-Nonhuman Conversations (plenary panel), Parma, Italy, 25/11/2021
Romanticism and Posthumansim - Session presider and co-organiser with Professor Richard Sha (American University, DC)
Invited presentation, Modelr Language Association Annual Convention, Seattle, United States, 11/1/2020
"Managed Extinction? The Scottish Clearances as an Anthropocene Event."
Invited presentation, Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Seattle, United States, 10/1/2020
鈥淐urtis鈥檚 Botanical Magazine and Romantic Plant Poetry: Seeking Spirituality in Real-Life Flowers鈥�
Invited presentation, Ecology and Religion in 19th Century Studies, Waco, United States, 21/9/2019
鈥淓xposed to the Elements: Romantic Time, Weather, and Science Then and Now鈥�
Romantic Elements: North American Society for the Study of Romanticism (NASSR) 27th Annual Conference, Chicago, United States, 11/8/2019
"Sea Stories and Freshwater Tales: Washington Irving, Walter Scott and the Transatlantic Romantic Imagination."
Invited presentation, Symbiosis 12th Biennial Conference., Dundee, United Kingdom, 13/7/2019
"David Douglas鈥� Canadian Trees: The Romantic Imagination versus the Lumber Industry."
The Transatlantic Studies Association 18th Annual Conference., Lancaster, United Kingdom, 10/7/2019
Transatlantic Romanticisms Reviewed
Invited presentation, Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Chicago, United States, 3/1/2019
鈥淭owards an Aesthetics of the Unseen: or, Romanticism Below and Beyond the Horizon."
Open: North American Society for the Study of Romanticism (NASSR) 26th Annual Conference, Providence, United States, 23/6/2018
"The MLA International Bibliography as an Active Archive: Knowledge Creation for the Twenty-First Century."
Invited presentation, Modern Language Association Annual Convention, New York, United States, 5/1/2018
"Rocks and Hard Places: Romanticism and the Agency of Stone."
Invited presentation, Romantic Improvement: British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) 15th International Conference, York, United Kingdom, 28/7/2017
鈥淓cologies of Destruction: The Politics and Poetics of the Planetary: Oil, Coal and Air in 1820s Scotland.鈥�
Invited presentation, Dialogues and Diasporas: 2nd World Congress of Scottish Literatures., Vancouver, Canada, 22/6/2017
鈥淭he Road to Publication Begins with Research.鈥�
Invited presentation, Modern Language Association Annual Convention., Philadephia, United States, 6/1/2017
鈥淭ransatlantic Discontent: Homecoming from the American Tropics in Walter Scott鈥檚 Rokeby.鈥�
Romanticism and Its Discontents: North American Society for the Study of Romanticism 24th Annual Conference., Berkeley, United States, 13/8/2016
鈥淩eading the Land: Interpreting Forms of Violence.鈥�
Invited presentation, Keynote presentation, Environments: British Comparative Literature Association PG Conference, Colchester, United Kingdom, 8/6/2016
鈥淐loaking and Hiding: Dressing Up in Robert Louis Stevenson's The Master of Ballantrae.鈥�
Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Austin, United States, 9/1/2016
鈥淩omantic Ecocriticism: Thinking Forward.鈥�
Invited presentation, Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Austin, United States, 8/1/2016
Conference co-organiser
Invited presentation, Trauma, Conflict, and Reconciliation: 10th Symbiosis Transatlantic Studies Biennial International Conference., Colchester, United Kingdom, 9/9/2015
鈥淓nvironmental Justice and the Romantic Ballad: Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border versus Lyrical Ballads.鈥�
Romanticism and Rights: North American Society for the Study of Romanticism (NASSR) 23rd Annual Conference, Winnipeg, Canada, 15/8/2015
"Teaching Transatlantic Romanticisms."
Romantic Imprints: British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) 14th International Conference., Cardiff, United Kingdom, 18/7/2015
鈥淧ublishing in Academic Journals and Edited Essay Collections.鈥�
Romantic Imprints: 14th British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) International Conference, Cardiff, United Kingdom, 18/7/2015
"The Land Writes Back: Walter Scott, Ballads and Grounding the Imagination."
Invited presentation, Notes from Underground: Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) 11th Biennial Conference., Moscow, United States, 27/6/2015
鈥淪cottish Literature: Into the Great Unknowns.鈥�
Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Vancouver, Canada, 9/1/2015
鈥淲oodland as Cultural Archive in The Lay of the Last Minstrel.鈥�
Invited presentation, Activating the Archive: 10th International Walter Scott Conference., Aberdeen, United Kingdom, 12/7/2014
"鈥淲alter Scott and the Presence of Place: An Ecocritical Phenomenology for the Twenty-First Century.鈥�"
World Congress of Scottish Literatures, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 3/7/2014
鈥淕reen Scotland: Seeds of Independence.鈥�
Modern Language Association Annual Convention, Chicago, United States, 11/1/2014
鈥淣arratives of western travel in the Edinburgh Review 1802-1815.鈥�
Invited presentation, The Journey and Its Portrayals: Explorers, Sailors, (Im)migrants.", Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, Province of China, 25/11/2012
鈥淭he Slipperiness of Genre: Thomas De Quincey鈥檚 'On Murder' Essays and Catastrophic Spaces in the Romantic Press.鈥�
Romantic Catastrophes: International Conference on Romanticism (ICR) Annual Conference, Tempe, United States, 9/11/2012
Teaching and supervision
Current teaching responsibilities
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Origins and Transformations in Literature and Drama (LT111)
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Text Up Close: Reading for Criticism (LT182)
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Criticism: Practice and Theory (LT204)
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The Romantics: Poetry, Prose, Imagination (LT215)
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Transatlantic Romanticisms (LT378)
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Climate Fiction (LT899)
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Literature and the Environmental Imagination: 19th to 21st Century Poetry and Prose (LT978)
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Independent Literature Project (LT831)
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Independent Creative Writing Project (LT832)
Previous supervision
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 27/8/2024
Degree subject: Creative Writing
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 17/1/2023
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 2/3/2020
Degree subject: Creative Writing
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 17/9/2019
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 22/5/2017
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 20/4/2017
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 11/11/2016
Degree subject: Literature
Degree type: Doctor of Philosophy
Awarded date: 30/6/2015
Publications
Journal articles (22)
Oliver, S., . European Romantic Review
Steel, N., Bauer-Staeb, CMM., Ford, JA., Oliver, S. and et al, (2025). . The Lancet Public Health. 10 (3), e172-e188
Oliver, S., (2024). . Romanticism On the Net (79)
Oliver, S. and Schumacher, AEEA., (2024). . The Lancet. 403 (10440), 1989-2056
Baker, S., Dick, A., Gidal, E., McKeever, G. and Oliver, S., (2023). . European Romantic Review. 34 (3), 303-315
Oliver, S., (2017). . Yearbook of English Studies. 47, 279-299
Oliver, S., (2017). . Yearbook of English Studies. 47, 1-15
Oliver, S., (2016). . The Bottle Imp. [Supplement 3] (Supplement Issue 3), [no-pagination]
Oliver, S., (2016). Byron and the Discourses of History. EUROPEAN ROMANTIC REVIEW. 27 (1), 96-101
Oliver, S., (2015). . The Bottle Imp. 2 (Supp)
Oliver, S., (2014). . The Bottle Imp. [Supplement 1] (Supp 1), [no-pagination]
Oliver, S., (2014). . The Bottle Imp. 16 (16), 1-5
Oliver, S., (2013). . The Wordsworth Circle. 44 (2-3), 115-120
Oliver, S., (2013). . The Wordsworth Circle. 44 (1), 44-51
Oliver, S., (2012). . The Wordsworth Circle. 43 (4), 209-212
Oliver, S., (2011). . Charles Lamb Bulletin. 154, 115-130
Oliver, S., (2009). . Literature Compass. 6 (3), 585-598
Oliver, S., (2009). . The Wordsworth Circle. 40 (2-3), 96-102
Oliver, S., (2009). . Journal of Anglo-Italian Studies. 10, 1-16
Oliver, S., (2008). . Studies in Romanticism. 47 (1), 15-34
Oliver, S., (2005). . Symbiosis: A Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations. 9 (1), 45-62
Oliver, S., (2002). . Cycnos. 19 (1), 49-63
Books (3)
Oliver, S., (2021). . Cambridge University Press. 978-1108831574
Oliver, S., (2017). . Modern Humanities Research Association. 9781781882931
Oliver, S., (2005). . Palgrave Macmillan. 9780230555006
Book chapters (13)
Oliver, S., (2022). . In: The International Companion to Nineteenth-Century Scottish Literature. Editors: Kidd, S., McNeil, K. and McCracken-Flesher, C., . Scottish Literature International, Association for Scottish Literature. 42- 49. 978-1-908980-35-9
Oliver, S., (2021). . In: Walter Scott at 250: Looking Forward.. Editors: McCracken-Flesher, C. and Wickman, M., . Edinburgh University Press. 161- 180. 9781474429863
Oliver, S., (2021). 9 Reading Walter Scott in the Anthropocene. In: Walter Scott at 250. Edinburgh University Press. 161- 180
Oliver, S., (2019). . In: Ariosto, the Orlando Furioso and English Culture.. Editors: Everson, JE., Hiscock, A. and Jossa, S., . Oxford University Press. 186- 209. 9780197266502
Oliver, S., (2016). . In: The Edinburgh Companion to Atlantic Literary Studies. Editors: Eckel, L. and Elliott, C., . Edinburgh Companions to Literature. 340- 353. 1474402941. 9781474402941
Oliver, S., (2016). 23. Transatlantic Magazines and the Rise of Environmental Journalism. In: The Edinburgh Companion to Atlantic Literary Studies. Edinburgh University Press. 340- 354
Oliver, S., (2013). . In: Approaches to Teaching the Works of Robert Louis Stevenson. Modern Language Association of America. 130- 134. 9781603291217
Oliver, S., (2013). . In: Southern Horrors: Northern Visions of the Mediterranean World. Editors: Bonifas, G. and Monacelli, M., . Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 201- 211. 1443850306. 9781443850308
Oliver, S., (2013). . In: Beyond Colonial/postcolonial Interventions Revisiting the Debate of Morocco in English Writings and Moroccan Writings in English.. Editors: Essrhir, A., Amine, K., Ennassiri, MK., El Assad, YR., Younes, R., Mars, A. and El Ayadi, R., . Abdelmalek Assadi University Press and The British Council. 191- 212. 9981610542. 9789981610545
Oliver, S., (2013). . In: La Donna del Lago. Royal Opera. 31- 37
Oliver, S., (2012). . In: The City and the Ocean: Journeys, Memory, Imagination. Editors: White, JC. and Wang, I., . Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 60- 74. 9781443837194
Oliver, S., (2010). . In: An Interpretive Turn: Essays on Cultural Expressions of Art and Literature. Bookman Books, Ltd.. 23- 40. 9789574453429
(2007). . In: Romanticism's Debatable Lands. Editors: Lamont, C. and Rossington, M., . Palgrave Macmillan UK. 39- 51. 9781349353743
Conferences (11)
Oliver, S., Impact Metrics in the Humanities: Administrative Perspective of Impact Metrics:
Oliver, S., 12th International Walter Scott Conference, University of Edinburgh. Paper titled 'Inshore Fishing in Scotland in the 21st Century: the Romance and Realism of Scott鈥檚 Legacy.'
Oliver, S., (2019).
Oliver, S., (2019).
Oliver, S., (2019).
Oliver, S., (2018).
Oliver, S., (2016).
Oliver, S., (2015).
Oliver, S., (2014).
Oliver, S., (2013). 鈥淢elancholia and horror in Romantic Greece: British reviews of John Keats鈥檚 Lamia and John Polidori鈥檚 The Vampyre.鈥�
Oliver, S., (2013). 鈥淩eading Morocco in the nineteenth-century periodical press before National Geographic.鈥�
Media (7)
Oliver, S., Walter Scott and the Greening of Scotland.. Video
Oliver, S., Riding, C., Hopper, J. and Greenberg, R., Life Inside The Hay Wain: Constable's Landscapes 200 years on. The National Gallery, panel and webinar.. Video
Pretty, J., Dixon, M., Tearne, R., Oliver, S., Shaheed, A. and Lichtenstein, J., . Audio
Jones, K., Marsh, H., Ward, P. and Oliver, S., 鈥楾he myth of hyperabundance鈥�: the environmental history of the Americas.' Available online: https://easternarc.ac.uk/podcasts/episode-6-the-myth-of-hyperabundance-the-environmental-history-of-the-americas/. Audio
Oliver, S., Jones, K., Marsh, H. and Ward, P., . Audio
Oliver, S., 'Endemic, Epidemic, Pandemic! Contagion, the Doctors, and the Press in Early-19th-Century Boston.' 糖心Vlog Explores (public lecture series). Available online https://lnkd.in/dVWc3M7. Video
Oliver, S., 'Getting to the Roots of the Matter: Trees in 19th Century Literature,' Interdisciplinary Explorations: The Idea of Nature (public lecture series). Available online: https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/ideaofnature/18/. Video
Other (11)
Oliver, S., (2021).,糖心Vlog, 糖心Vlog Blogs
Oliver, S., (2016).,susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2016).,https://susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2016).,blogpost. susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2016).,blogpost. susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2015).,susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2015).,blogpost. susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2014).,Blogpost. susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2014).,Blogpost. susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2014).,Blogpost. susanoliverweb.com
Oliver, S., (2014).,Blogpost - https://susanoliverweb.com
Grants and funding
2022
Coastal Scotland: The Bass Rock, J. M. W. Turner, and the ecologies of an inshore island
Natural Environment Research Council
2015
Green Scott: Walter Scott's Environmentalism and Writing the Ecologies of a Nation
The British Academy
