LSC doctoral candidate Jill Hopke has received two research travel grants from the European Union Center of Excellence and the Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science & Technology Studies at UW-Madison.
The grants will support Hopke’s fieldwork this summer in Sweden and Belgium on the expansion of hydraulic fracturing into Europe and how civil society actors are using media technologies to organize around potential environmental, health and social impacts of the technology.
“These grants will allow me to enrich my digital and network analyses of controversy over hydraulic fracturing in international contexts by being able to speak with staff from environmental organizations and others working directly on these issues in Europe. The EU has set ambitious targets for decarbonization of the economy and is moving towards regional energy markets, while my initial digital analyses indicate that understanding the public response in European countries is key to understanding the reception of the technology outside the United States,” said Hopke. “I am very appreciative of the opportunities afforded by funding from the EUCE and the Holtz Center to support graduate student research as we are at the start of our careers.”
To learn more about the European Union Center of Excellence visit here and Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science & Technology visit here. The views of the researcher in no way reflect the views or opinions of either funding source. To learn more about Hopke’s research, visit her blog here. You can also follow her on Twitter at @jillhopke.