Dr Julian Bloomer
Research interests
Human-environment relations; rural livelihoods; development studies; political ecology; geographies of illicit networks and trade; energy geographies
More information
From 2022 to 2024 I was the Honorary Secretary of the Geographical Society of Ireland. I was Chair of the Conference of Irish Geographers 2022 which was held in Limerick in May 2022.
Recent publications:
Boateng, D., Bloomer, J. & Morrissey, J. Dilemmas and decision-making: Exploring households' perspectives on the energy-environment-livelihoods nexus in off-grid rural Ghana, Energy for Sustainable Development [in press]
Bloomer, J. & Boateng, D. 2024 Prepaid into poverty? Exploring energy poverty and access to alterative electricity sources among urban poor households in Ghana. Energy Research & Social Science, 112. Available (open access) here
Boateng, D, Bloomer, J, and Morrissey, J. 2024. A Burning Desire: Trying to Achieve SDG 7 and Improving Access to Cleaner Cooking Fuels in Rural Ghana, in, Living with Energy Poverty: Perspectives from the Global North and South, Paola Velasco-Herrejón, Breffní Lennon, Niall P. Dunphy [eds.] Routledge: London. DOI
Boateng, D, Bloomer, J, and Morrissey, J. 2023. Where the Power Lies: Developing a Political Ecology Framework for Just Energy Transition. Geography Compass. Available (open access) DOI
Weiner, D, Bloomer, J, Ó Conchúir, R and Dalton, C. 2022. The Role of Volunteers and Citizen Scientists in Addressing Declining Water Quality in Irish River Catchments. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 7(1): 13, pp. 1–12. DOI
"The only honest thief: Critiquing the role of human smugglers", in, Haven: The Mediterranean Crisis and Human Security, edited by Professor John Morrissey, 2020, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar ISBN: 9781788115476 Available here
"Turning cannabis into cash: Agrarian change and Lesotho's evolving experience", ÉchoGéo, 2019, 48, 1-22, Available (open access) here
Postgraduate Supervision (PhD):
Wonder Kofi Adzigbli (2024-to date): Climate change and coastal communities: Vulnerability, adaptation and resilience - a Ghana-based case study. MIC Doctoral Award.
Augustus Sobeng (2024-to date): Circular economy in the Global South: An investigation of non-Western perspectives and their application in delivering sustainability. Funded by MIC Geography Department Scholarship.
Evans Amoah (2023-to date): Farmer-herder conflicts in Ghana: Linkages between climate change, resource competition and food security in rural communities. Funded by The Andrew Grene Postgraduate Scholarship in Conflict Resolution by the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship (from Sep 2024 - Project ID GOIPG/2024/4743).
Dickson Boateng (2021-to date): A political ecology approach to low-carbon transition in rural Ghana. MIC Geography Department Scholarship
Donna Weiner (2020-2024): Citizen Science Investigations – river environmental stewardship (CSI-River). EPA Scholarship # 2019-PhD-AF-26 & Mary Immaculate College Geography Department Assistantship