Dr Alison Stowell

Senior Lecturer

Profile

My research asks how companies, governments, civic society, local communities, individuals and non-human actors respond to, and develop solutions for, the global waste crisis. It began with electronic waste, expanded to other complex wastes including plastics, and more recently turned to a critical examination of the circular economy.

My route into this field began in the public sector, where witnessing the arrival of the first connected computer systems sparked a curiosity about technology that led to my first degree and then a career in IT. Over fourteen years in the public and private sectors before my PhD, I began to wonder what happened to computers and electronic devices when they were discarded. That question drew me towards complex wastes and into the interdisciplinary space between organisation studies, social theory, and science and technology studies. I joined Lancaster University Management School as a Masters student in 2005, and then as a PhD student in 2007, receiving my doctorate in Organisation, Work and Technology in 2012.

My work is organised around three interconnected questions: how actors respond to institutional pressure to change practices; how latent value is negotiated and attributed to and by actors; and how actors construct meaning and legitimacy through their work.

My research has attracted competitive funding from UK research councils (UKRI ESRC, NERC, EPSRC) and international funders (GCRF, ISPF), and I have led and collaborated on projects spanning social, natural and physical sciences. I publish across management and organisation studies, environmental studies, material science, and sociology, and I have written co-authored book chapters and two short books. I lead the Waste and Circular Economy Knowledge and Action Hub for the Pentland Centre for 羞羞视频 in Business and am one of the core leads of Opening the Bin, an international community of social science and humanities waste scholars.

Qualifications

BSc Business and Information Technology (Portsmouth)

MSc Information Technology, Management and Organisational Change (Lancaster)

PhD Organisation, Work and Technology (Lancaster)

Current Research

My current research involves several interdisciplinary and collaborative projects:

1. UKRI EPSRC Reimagining digital research infrastructure in environmental science for a sustainable future with Professor Adrian Friday, Dr Michael Stead, Dr Carolynne Lord, Dr Oliver Bates and Dr Marcia Smith.

2. Plastic Packaging in People's Lives (PPiPL) includes a suite of 4 projects.

UKRI NERC: PPiPL: Bridging the consumer attitude behaviour gap with Professor Maria Piacentini, Dr James Cronin, Dr Alex Skandalis, Professor Linda Hendry, Dr John Hardy.
LU GCRF and Newton Consolidation Fund and FCRI: PPiPL Malaysia with Professor Maria Piacentini, Professor James Cronin, Professor Alex Skandalis, Dr Ooi Pei Boon, Dr Jane Lai Tai Gew.
LU GCRF and Newton Consolidation Account and FCRI: International Communications Platform (ICP) for Food Plastic Packaging with Professor Maria Piacentini, Professor Alex Skandalis, Dr Ooi Pei Boon, Dr Jane Lai Tai Gew.
LU EPSRC IAA, Shared Prosperity Fund, LUMS Impact Funds: In the Loop with Professor Maria Piacentini and Dr Marta Ferri.

Research Grants

UKRI International Science Partnership Funds (ISPF) Institutional Support Grant (?255,730) Awarded to Professor Rebecca Lingwood (PI) for multiple projects, Dr Alison Stowell (Co PI - ?35,000), Professor Maria Piacentini (Co PI), Professor Alex Skandalis (CI), Dr Ooi Pei Boon (CI), Dr Jane Lai Tai Gew (CI) for International Communication Platform for food plastic packaging (2024/2025).

UKRI EPSRC (?780,072) awarded to Professor Adrian Friday (PI), Dr Alison Stowell (CI), Dr Michael Stead (CI) for Reimagining digital research infrastructure in environmental science for a sustainable future (2024-2027).

UKRI NERC (?950,321) - Awarded to Professor Maria Piacentini (Co PI), Dr Alison Stowell (Co PI), Dr James Cronin (CI), Dr Alex Skandalis (CI), Professor Linda Hendry (CI), Dr John Hardy (CI) for the Plastic Packaging in People's Lives: Bridging the consumer attitude-behaviour gap (2020-2024).

GCRF and Newton Consolidation Accounts Lancaster University (?384,000) Awarded to Professor Louise Heathwaite (PI) for multiple projects, one Dr Alison Stowell (CI - ?40,000) for Plastic Packaging in Peoples Live's: Malaysia (2022-2023).

UK WEEE Funds (?200,000 - Pentland Centre (?51,000)) - Awarded to Anthesis (PI), Valpak (CI), REPIC (CI), Dr Alison Stowell (LU Pentland Centre PI), Dr Dmitry Yumashev (CI), Oliver Schaer, Camilia De Jesus Silva (2019).

ESRC IAA (?6500) - Awarded to Dr Alison Stowell (PI) and Dr John Hardy (PI) for IAA: A violet biotechnology understanding of organic electronics (2019-2020)

REPIC Grant (?81,175.20) - Awarded to Dr Alison Stowell (PI), Dr Dmitry Yumashev (CI), Dr Lingxuan Liu (CI) for the UK EEE and WEEE Quantification and Compliance Target 羞羞视频 (2017 - 2018).

Santander Universities Global Division and Lancaster University International Projects Award (?25,000) - Grant awarded to send Lancaster University Management School Students to attend the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's Annual Meeting (2017, 2018).

Santander Universities Global Division and Lancaster University International Projects Award (?10,000) - Grant awarded to send Lancaster University Management School Students to attend the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's Annual Meeting (2016).

Economic and Social Research Council - (UK) +3 studentship; Doctoral Scholarship in pursuance of a PhD in Organisation Studies focusing on the organisation of Electronic Waste, Lancaster University Management School, University of Lancaster (2007-2010).

Current Teaching

Postgraduate

EMBA & MBA 羞羞视频 and Ethical Management, Dissertation Supervisor.

MNGT7705 Responsible Management of People and Society

Undergraduate

DOWT6001 Global Sustainable Development, Dissertation Supervisor.

Professional Role

Department Director for Engagement

Co-Principal Investigator - Plastic Packaging in People’s Lives (including UK PPiPL, PPiPL Malaysia, International Communications Platform for Food Plastic Packaging, In the Loop)

Co-organizer for

Co-Investigator -

LUMS Research Committee representative

Lead - Waste and Circular Economy Knowledge and Action Hub

External Roles

WBCSD Education Faculty Member and Academic Advisor

Additional Information

Awards:

2022 LUMS Dean's Professor Alistair Anderson Award

2018 LUMS Dean's Award for Excellence in Business Engagement

2017 World Business Council for Sustainable Development's inaugural Education and Innovation Award

2015 LUMS Academic Staff Member of the Year

PhD Supervision Interests

I am interested in supervising students in subjects that are waste related or ideas surrounding the Circular Economy. More specifically, topics that focus on social, organisation and managerial responses, the negotiations surrounding values attributed to waste and waste as a particular type of work.

17/03/2025 → 28/11/2025
Research
01/01/2025 → 31/12/2027
Research
01/11/2024 → 31/03/2025
Research
03/10/2022 → 30/09/2023
Research
01/04/2022 → 31/03/2023
Research
01/04/2022 → 30/09/2022
Research
26/03/2021 → 10/10/2021
Consultancy
01/11/2020 → 31/05/2024
Research
01/11/2020 → 31/10/2023
Research
16/04/2019 → 01/01/2020
Consultancy
01/04/2019 → 31/12/2019
Consultancy
01/12/2018 → 31/07/2020
Consultancy
01/10/2017 → 15/07/2018
Research
21/08/2017 → 15/07/2018
Research
01/01/1900 → …
Research

Invited talk

Hosting an academic visitor

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

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Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition

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Hosting a Non-Academic Visitor

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Expert Opinion

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Participation in conference - Academic

Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition

Membership of committee

Other

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Editorial activity

Oral presentation

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Participation in conference - Academic

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Other

Public Lecture/ Debate/Seminar

Oral presentation

Business Engagement

Other

Expert Opinion

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Invited talk

Business Engagement

Invited talk

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Invited talk

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Invited talk

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Other

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Invited talk

Business Engagement

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

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Participation in workshop, seminar, course

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Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Types of Business and Community - Hosting of external, non-academic visitor

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Invited talk

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Invited talk

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Member of an organisation

Editorial activity

Publication peer-review

Invited talk

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Invited talk

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Invited talk

Publication peer-review

Invited talk

Publication peer-review

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Invited talk

Publication peer-review

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Publication peer-review

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Participation in conference -Mixed Audience

Participation in workshop, seminar, course

Member of an organisation

Prize (including medals and awards)

Emmanuel Bissah

PhD student

Pentland Centre

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Colin Hill

PhD student

Centre for Technological Futures , Materials Science Institute PhD Student

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Mark Ryan

PhD student, Associate Lecturer

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Centre for Consumption Insights
Centre for Technological Futures
MSF Supervisors 2019/20
Pentland Centre

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Contact Details

Organisation Work and Technology
Office: WP E021, E - Floor, Management School
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