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Assistant Professor｜Huei-Ling Lai

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Current  Position

Assistant Professor, Institute of Social Innovation, National Sun Yat-sen University 

Highest Qualification

PhD, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam

Research Interests

Political Ecology, Grassroots Innovation and Sustainability Transitions, Environmental Activism and Justice, Sense of Place, Energy Geographies 

Teaching

Climate Change and Environmental Impact, Exploring Human Geography in World News 

Academic Appointments

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Exeter (2022.4 - 2023.12)
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Research Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (2021.05 - 2022.03)

Awards and Honors(selections)

  • Outstanding Reviewer Award 2023, Energy Research & Social Science (2024)
  • Government Scholarship for Overseas Study, Ministry of Education, Taiwan (2015)
  • Delta Netherlands Environmental Scholarship Award (for PhD studies), Delta Electronics Foundation, Taiwan (2014)
  • British Chevening Scholarship, co-sponsored by Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK Government, and Delta Electronics Foundation, Taiwan (2012) 

Research Project

  • Patrick Devine-Wright (principle investigator), Huei-Ling Lai, and Jo Hamilton (PDRAs) (2022-2023) “Net Zero Sense of Place” project, Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC, funded by UKRI), UK. https://idric.org/project/mip-3-4/ 
     

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

  1. Lai, H. L. and P. Devine-Wright (2024) “Imagining and Emplacing Net Zero Industrial Clusters: A Critical Analysis of Stakeholder Discourses”, Geo: Geography and Environment 11(1): e00139. doi.org/10.1002/geo2.139 (SCI)
  2. Lai, H. L. (2023) “From Protected Spaces to Hybrid Spaces: Mobilizing A Place-Centered Enabling Approach for Justice-Sensitive Grassroots Innovation Studies”, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 47:100726. doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2023.100726 (SSCI)
  3. Lai, H. L. (2022) “Placing Land and Food Struggles in Agriculture-Industry Power Asymmetry: Insights from Wanbao Village, Taiwan”, Journal of Peasant Studies 49(7): 1524-1552. 
    doi: 10.1080/03066150.2021.1923009 (SSCI)
  4. Lai, H. L. (2022) “Foregrounding the Community: Geo-Historical Entanglements of Community Energy, Environmental Justice, and Place in Taihsi Village, Taiwan”, Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space 5(2): 666-693. doi: 10.1177/25148486211000745 (SSCI)
  5. Lai, H. L. (2019) “Situating Community Energy in Development History: Place-making and Identity Politics in the Taromak 100% Green Energy Tribe Initiative, Taiwan”, Geoforum 100: 176-181. doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2019.01.006 (SSCI)

Book Sections

  1. Ryder S. and H. L. Lai (in press) “Civic Engagement”, in Dorceta E. Taylor (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Environmental Justice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publishing (expected in 2024).
  2. Lai, H. L. (in press) ‘Nuclear Controversy and Antinuclear Movement’, in Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao (ed.) Encyclopedia of Taiwan Studies. Leiden: Brill (expected in 2024).
     

Conference Papers

  1. Lai, H. L. and P. Devine-Wright (2023) “Imagining and emplacing net zero industrial clusters: A critical analysis of stakeholder discourse”, at the 2023 RGS-IBG Annual International Conference: Climate Changed Geographies, Imperial College London, UK, 29 August -1 September.
  2. Lai, H. L. (2023) “From Protected Spaces to Hybrid Spaces: Mobilizing A Place-Centered Enabling Approach for Grassroots Innovation Research”, at the 14th International Sustainability Transitions Conference, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, 29 August -1 September.
  3. Lai, H. L., J. Hamilton, and P. Devine-Wright (2023) “Contested New Industrial/Energy Spaces in the UK’s Net Zero Industrial Clusters”, at the 2023 Society of Geography Studies Conference: Geography and Political Ecology (Giornate di Studi “Geografia e Ecologia politica), University of Milan, Italy, 29-30 June.
  4. Lai, H. L. and P. Devine-Wright (2023) “Examining a cluster-based approach for industrial decarbonization: lessons from the UK” at the 2nd Annual Energy Geography Conference, the Energy and Environment Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers (AAG), 21 January. 
  5. Lai, H. L., P. Jobin, and H.M. Chiu (2022) “Fair Low-Carbon Transitions and Environmental Justice Movements in Taiwan”, at the ISA/ASA Global Conference on Navigating Uncertain Futures: Social Engagement and Transformative Change, 14-15 October.
  6. Lai, H. L. (2021) “Imagining Agrarian Degrowth in (Post-)Newly Industrialized Countries through Creating Fairer Metabolic Shift” at the 8th International Degrowth Conference, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), the Netherlands, 24-28 August.  
  7. Lai, H. L. (2020) ‘Community Energy or Citizen Energy? Placing Environmental Justice in Pursuit of Energy Transitions’ at the 3rd biennial conference of the Political Ecology Network: Contested Natures: Power, Possibility, Prefiguration (POLLEN20), University of Sussex, UK, 22-25 September.
  8. Lai, H. L. (2020) ‘Recasting Land politics as Place-Making Politics: Insights from Taiwan’ at the 3rd biennial conference of the Political Ecology Network: Contested Natures: Power, Possibility, Prefiguration (POLLEN20), University of Sussex, UK, 22-25 September. 
  9. Lai, H. L. (2018) ‘A Quest for Sustainable Rural Development: The Anti-Water Grabbing Campaign and the Alternative Food Network Initiative in Hsichou, Taiwan’ at the 4th Annual World-Ecology Research Network Conference, University of Helsinki, Finland, 15-18 August. 
  10. Lai, H. L. (2018) ‘More than Energy Transitions: Situating Community Energy in Development History’ at the 2nd Biannual Conference of Political Ecology Network: Political Ecology, the Green Economy, and Alternative Sustainabilities’ (POLLEN18), Oslo, Norway, 20-22 June.
  11. Lai, H. L. (2016) ‘Framing Green Economy: A Discourse Analysis of “Toward a Green Economy in Taiwan”’ at the 8th Annual Conference on Development Studies in Taiwan: Environment and Sustainable Development, National Taiwan University, 15-16 October.
  12. Lai, H. L. (2016) ‘Sustainable Biofuel? A Commodity Chain Analysis of Brazilian Sugarcane Ethanol’ at the 2nd World-Ecology Conference, Durham  

Other Research Outputs (selections)

  • Lai, H. L., P. Devine-Wright, J. Hamilton, D. Clery, I. Rattle, A. Martin, P. Taylor, S. Mander, and S. Ryder (2024) “Delivering Place-sensitive and Fair Industrial Decarbonisation”, Policy Brief, the ‘Delivering of a Place-based Just Transition in Industrial Clusters’ impact accelerator project, Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC), UK. 
  • Devine-Wright, P., H. L. Lai, and J. Hamilton (2023) “Net Zero Sense of Place Framework (Summary)”, the ‘Net Zero Sense of Place’ project, IDRIC, UK.

Popular Writings (selections)

  • Lai, H. L. (2023) “How to Make Industrial Decarbonisation Relevant and Fair for Local Communities?”, blog on the ACCESS (Advancing Capacity for Climate and Environment Social Science) website, 2023/10/17.
  • Lai, H. L. (2019)「透視『非核不可』迷思」, an interview with Prof. Andy Stirling at the University of Sussex on nuclear energy in the UK (3 pieces), The News Lens, 2019/06 - 2019/07.
  • Lai, H. L. (2018)「進擊的荷蘭」, 3 articles on Dutch climate polices and energy transitions, Low Carbon Living Blog, 2018/11.
  • Lai, H. L. (2017)「2017年波昂聯合國氣候變遷會議連線」, 2 in-depth reports on 2017 UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Low Carbon Living Blog & Taiwan environmental Information Association, 2017/11/13 - 2017/11/17.
  • Lai, H. L. (2016-2017)「荷蘭烏特列支能源城市對話」, 6-piece in-depth report on 2015 Utrecht Energy City-Talks, the Netherlands, Low Carbon Living Blog, 2016/06 - 2017/05.
  • Lai, H. L. (2016)「拜耳併購孟山都，全球農糧體系變局？」, a commentary on Bayer-Monsanto merger case, Initium Media, 2016/06/23.
  • Lai, H. L. (2015)「2015年巴黎聯合國氣候變遷會議連線」, 13 reports on 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, Low Carbon Living Blog & Taiwan environmental Information Association, 2015/12/01 - 2015/12/13.

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