Rate My Professor Jesse Peterson

Dr. Jesse Peterson is a lecturer in the School of the Human Environment (Department of Geography) and a member of the Radical Humanities Laboratory at University College Cork. His research explores more-than-human relations, environmental change, science and technology studies, with a particular emphasis on biodiversity loss and oceanic degradation. Peterson examines human relationships to each other and the environment to help resolve environmental challenges and cultivate more just and mutually beneficial societies. His interdisciplinary work spans geography, environmental humanities, science and technology studies, cultural studies, and creative writing. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the University of Bath since September 2025.

Peterson has produced a substantial body of scholarly output, including peer-reviewed articles such as 'Virtual oceans: how VR technologies mediate oceanic space' (2026, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences), 'Birdwatching in the digital age: how technologies shape relationships to birds' co-authored with E. Lundquist et al. (2025, BioScience), 'Does eBird Contribute to Environmental Citizenship? A Discourse Analysis' with R. van der Wal and D. Kasperowski (2025, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice), 'Exuberant Life as Existential Anxiety: Fictional Accounts of Human-Algae Relations' (2025, Green Letters), and 'New directions for interconnector research: drawing from social sciences and humanities perspectives to explore the Celtic Interconnector' with A. Revez et al. (2026, Energy Research and Social Science). Additional publications feature 'Ethical Challenges in Mariculture: Adopting a Feminist Blue Humanities Approach' (2024, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics), book chapters like 'Can the Baltic Sea Die? An Environmental Imaginary of a Dying Sea' (2024) and 'Seeking an Algal Perspective: Exploring "Harmful" Algae through an Interview with Nodularia spumigena' (2024), as well as creative works and his doctoral dissertation 'Excessive Seas: Waste Ecologies of Eutrophication'. As Principal Investigator for the Living Seawalls in Cork project, he advances innovative research at the intersection of ecology and humanities. Peterson co-organizes workshops such as Blue Death Studies and participates in events including RUINation, contributing to academic discourse on environmental themes. His publications have accumulated 97 citations on Google Scholar.