Sign in

Prof Lucie Middlemiss

@luciemidd.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1.7K following 69 posts

Environmental social scientist from University of Leeds sustainable consumption, community, energy poverty, social relations of retrofit, just transitions, inclusion

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Dr Harriet Thew @harrietthew.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
This week we launched the West Yorkshire hub of @justcentre.bsky.social with 30+ regional partners to explore how to put social justice at the heart of climate change conversation and action. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, we are excited for what lies ahead!
173
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
amy brown @amybrown.xyz · 22/08/2025
this iconic advertising copywriter named Kathy Hepinstall Parks died over the weekend and I wanted to share something from her website I thought Bluesky would like
Why should I write better when a machine can do it for me?
Because actually no one can do it for you, because your voice is unique among all the people on earth. Siri never petted a horse's neck. Alexa has never been ghosted by the captain of the football team. But you have lived, your heart is beating, you have suffered, and you have something important to say. It's a human's job, to use words, and whatever job you give to a machine, that part of your brain goes dark. Maybe it's worth it when it comes to remembering phone numbers and directions, but when that part of your brain that uses words goes dark, that's a vast area that's very close to your soul. Don't let some internet platform convince you that what you have to say and create isn't worthwhile. Words are the echo of your soul. Honing that echo matters.
36191718726
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Bristol University Press @brisunipress.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
@prof-carolynsnell.bsky.social and @luciemidd.bsky.social argue that while #NetZero policies are vital for tackling #ClimateChange, they must be shaped around everyday realities and social inequalities to ensure they enhance rather than diminish people’s lives: buff.ly/nFn4lI0
transformingsociety.co.uk
A just climate future for Jim and beyond - Transforming Society
Carolyn Snell and Lucie Middlemiss, authors of 'Just Climate Futures', argue that while Net Zero policies are vital for tackling climate change, they must be shaped around everyday realities and…
131
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Joseph Howley @illdottore.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Rümeysa Öztürk describes the library in the prison where she was held for 45 days for co-authoring an op-ed
After many requests, I finally accessed what turned out to be the saddest and smallest library I have ever seen. I was surprised to find that the books were not categorized by author or Dewey number but size. I tried to find a book before my allotted time ended and picked a cooking book; the second time I got a novel. I began flipping through the pages in search of solace, as books have always been my safe haven. To my surprise, I discovered handwritten notes scattered throughout the book, dated and written by various detainees over time. These messages were filled with reminders of hope, strength, and the assurance that this, too, shall pass. Tears welled up in my eyes as I read their heartfelt expressions. It’s incredible how human beings can find ways to uplift each other, transcending time, space, and borders if they want to and if they choose to. I continued to turn the pages, holding on to the hope of finding brighter moments in this terrifying situation—all thanks to the kindness of people I had never met.
2343561999
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Faculty of Environment, University of Leeds @envleeds.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
Well done to @luciemidd.bsky.social and @profmarkdavis.bsky.social, who were awarded Best Paper by Energy Research & Social Science! 👏 Their paper investigates how social relations impact public decision-making and action around energy use. Read more: environment.leeds.ac.uk/news/article...
environment.leeds.ac.uk
Sustainability research team wins Best Paper Award
Professors Lucie Middlemiss and Mark Davis have been honoured with the Best Paper Award by Energy Research & Social Science for their groundbreaking research.
062
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Our paper “Developing a relational approach to energy demand: A methodological and conceptual guide” has won a prize: the Energy Research & Social Science Best Paper Award! You can read it here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... thanks to funding from @ukerc.bsky.social
sciencedirect.com
Developing a relational approach to energy demand: A methodological and conceptual guide
In a recent review of research on the role of social relations in shaping energy demand, authors documented increasing interest in relational approach…
173
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
010
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
JUST Centre @justcentre.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
🚨Join us for the International Launch of the JUST Centre, with keynote remarks from Prof. Julian Agyeman and a discussion with Centre Director Prof. Sherilyn MacGregor, Co-Investigators Prof. Lucie Middlemiss, Prof. Stefan Bouzarovski and Prof. Rebecca Willis. Register here: tinyurl.com/5bxfdb2z
159
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
Interested in #health #equity and #buildings join Doug's new 'HESTIA' network!
141
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
Very pleased to be a co-author on this new paper by @linzhang55.bsky.social which summarises the policy context in #China in relation to #EnergyPoverty. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Analysing policy responses to energy poverty in China: A perspective on socio-spatial vulnerability lens
Millions of Chinese households suffer from varying degrees of energy poverty, threatening their access to sufficient energy services. China lacks a na…
140
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
The case for using "global majority" by institutions should be rejected unless + until it can be shown - most people understand what it means (most don't) - most people it is about would like it used (most don't) I find it a deeply incoherent fiction + a highly regressive term in some many ways
2320752
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Reuters @reuters.com · 24/05/2025
Diary of a Gazan family's descent toward starvation reut.rs/4jB7Dcd
reut.rs
Diary of a Gazan family's descent toward starvation
Mervat Hijazi and her nine children didn't eat at all on Thursday - save her underweight baby who had a sachet of peanut paste.
1111479
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Back-to-back life on Leeds streets caught on camera. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Back-to-back life on streets of Leeds caught on camera
Photographer Ricky Adam says the red brick terraces of Leeds are
1308
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Jaweed Kaleem @jaweedkaleem.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
UPDATED: As of Tuesday night, California universities are reporting at least 92 revoked student visas. — 50 at UC campuses. New: UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine and a jump at UC Berkeley to 19 total — 36 at CSU campuses, including San Diego State — 6 at Stanford www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
Caught off-guard, California colleges scramble to determine scope of student visa cancellations
More universities are discovering that international student visas were cancelled last week, causing growing concern and confusion at UCLA and other California campuses.
23031
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · 09/04/2025
The rationale for this cancellation is climate denial. There is no dressing it up, there is no tiptoeing around it. Yet climate change doesn’t care if we believe it. It will destroy our homes, multiply insurance rates, wreak economic havoc and more — regardless of our opinions or voting record.
A screen capture of the text of the link below, explaining why they will no longer support cooperative modeling of the earth’s climate system.Another screen capture explaining why they no longer support sub seasonal to seasonal predictability research. That’s weather, folks. They don’t support weather research.A third screen capture explaining why a regional coupled model project is being canceled, as it includes alleged changes to precipitation patterns and sea level rise.
29639271
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Prof Cath Noakes @cathnoakes.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Interested in residential air quality and environmental justice? Check out this new paper from @douglasbooker.bsky.social and others in the HEICAMM network exploring ten key research questions in this area www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Ten questions concerning the future of residential indoor air quality and its environmental justice implications
Humans spend a large proportion of their time at home, where exposure to poor indoor air quality has detrimental – and often inequitably distributed –…
1137
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Prof Cath Noakes @cathnoakes.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Having a bit of a reminisce today. Five years ago an email arrived that changed my life - a request to produce a paper on what we knew about the environmental transmission of covid-19 for the UK SAGE committee. 1/
36215
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Costa Samaras @costasamaras.com · 01/04/2025
This is not an exaggeration: illegally gutting this program will cause Americans to freeze to death in their homes.
17465502745
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Viktoria Spaiser @viktoriaspaiser.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Come to our exciting event "Accelerating Social Change in Response to the Climate and Ecological Crisis", 6th June, London, register here: forms.office.com/e/4A078QseKL For more infos here: bit.ly/41O8EIe
Event details (place, time, organisers, links, contact details) and schedule
099
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
New paper led by Stephen Hall: Mission Led government or Radical Incrementalism for electricity and Net Zero? We argue for a relational approach to Net Zero, whether rooted in radical incrementalism or in mission-led government. journal.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/articles/13/...
journal.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
Mission Led government or Radical Incrementalism for electricity and Net Zero?
Should we govern the energy transition through bold ‘Mission Led’ government or pragmatic ‘Radical Incrementalism’ A Mission Led approach has an emboldened state setting clear goals for transformatio...
131
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
And the essay I wrote about climate, trees, and David's violin is here (and in my forthcoming anthology No Straight Road Takes You There with Haymarket Books). I'm on the board of OCI, by the way. Since 2017. www.theguardian.com/music/2022/j...
theguardian.com
‘A truce with the trees’: Rebecca Solnit on the wonders of a 300-year old violin
Made with all-renewable materials, this violin from 1721 reflects a time of magnificent culture – a global gathering from before the climate crisis
19420
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Done, I'm an ally thinking about my son's needs, be an ally whoever you are. More carrot, less stick please.
130
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Frances Ryan @francesryan.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
If you want to write to your Labour MP about disability benefit cuts but have limited spoons, here’s a template from @sensecharity.bsky.social you can use: t.co/E8QB6EDi9o Public backlash *does* work at times so let’s keep the pressure up. You too, non-disabled allies!
t.co
https://action.sense.org.uk/page/167765/action/1?ea.tracking.id=twt-org
19390285
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
What can we do about this? Please share ideas. I realise it is only one of a number of things but it is an important one...
111
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
NBC News @nbcnews.com · 15/03/2025
Nationwide protests are planned this weekend after Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University student activist, was arrested by immigration authorities, fueling tensions between the Trump administration and student movements over immigration policy.
nbcnews.to
Nationwide protests planned after arrest of former Columbia University activist by immigration authorities
Mahmoud Khalil was taken into custody by immigration authorities last weekend, prompting outrage.
1418540
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Laura Seay @texasinafrica.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Before Mahmoud Khalil's detention last week, ICE came for a Columbia PhD student. She had nothing to do with the Gaza protests, but was arrested last spring during a roundup while trying to walk home. Charges were dismissed. The State Department still revoked her visa.
nytimes.com
How a Columbia Student Fled to Canada After ICE Came Looking for Her
Ranjani Srinivasan’s student visa was revoked by U.S. immigration authorities. That was just the start of her odyssey.
10588326
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
PiedFly.Net @piedflynet.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
PhD opportunity with me (RSPB) at Sheffield Hallam combining ecology (building-nesting birds esp. Swift) + building design & planning (Net Zero goals & retrofit). We need a strong student interested in both! Is that you? url.uk.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/cNyjCR636C... Please repost.
26455
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Social Research Methods at Leeds @srmleeds.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
' #RealistEvaluation: Principles and Practice' Meet the authors: Ana Manzano & Emma Williams. On the 7th May at the Social Research Methods centre of the University of Leeds. Further details and tickets available here: socialresearchmethods.leeds.ac.uk/events/meet-...
064
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
More good clean air news. 🎉
051
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
megancmoodie.bsky.social @megancmoodie.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
time.com/7260543/medi... From my good friend and ally, the brilliant Danilyn Rutherford.
time.com
The Cruelty of Medicaid Work Requirements
If Republicans pass a plan with these restrictions, disabled people would not necessarily be exempt
1149
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Who will join us at the @justcentre.bsky.social launch in #Manchester? Will be a fun event, and a celebration of #diversity, #inclusion and #environment in these challenging times... Eventbrite below: 📅 12th March, 17:00 – 19:00 📍 The People History Museum www.eventbrite.com/e/just-centr...
eventbrite.com
JUST Centre Launch
JUST Centre Launch - Joining Up For a Sustainable Future
034
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Prof Ruth Patrick @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Exciting opportunity to join the @changingrealities.bsky.social team at a time when the work we do together has never mattered more. Please do share widely jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...
jobs.york.ac.uk
Jobs - The University of York
11724
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
I’m glad Labour is supporting these workers, who are at risk of losing 400 jobs. Would be nice if they were also supporting university workers, where 10,000 jobs are at risk. In the first week of February alone 1,000 job cuts were announced. Nothing from Labour at all in response.
7301107
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Prof Julia Steinberger 🌹🌱🌍 #ClimateAction #Fightfascism @jksteinberger.bsky.social · 23/02/2025
As promised, here are the slides I shared with students to convince them to NOT use chatGPT and other artificial stupidity. TL;DR? AI is evil, unsustainable and stupid, and I'd much rather they use their own brains, make their own mistakes, and actually learn something. 🪄
NO CHATGPT Or other artificial stupidity: motivation
First, clarity on distinguishing AIs:
Non-generative: grammar aid, translation, dictionary, text-to-audio (e.g. Natural Reader): no problem
As long as you use the appropriate tools (least intensive in data and server energy use).
Why? Because you provide the content. Your brain is doing the most important work
Generative: ChatGPT & Co. 
You only supply the prompt, the AI supplies the content.
Why is this delegation of work problematic?
3 domains: ethical, environmental, intellectual engagement.

(Caveat: generative is probably ok for computer programming, where it can be useful and save time. Not relevant to this class.)
1) AI and ethics
Mass theft of all and everything
«learning» on books, articles, blogs, social media, images, music, cultural production, without  permission of authors/creators, and leading to their mass joblessness. Profits are not reditributed to originators. 
Permanent destruction of the mental health of underpaid precarious tech workers in the Global South (Kenya, Philippines …):
«correction» to avoid production of violent and pedophile contents etc, tech workers are obliged to watch and correct super violent contents for days on end, leading to extreme psychological suffering and trauma, from which recovery is doubtful. No or little compensation (certainly not at the level of the suffering inflicted). 
In short, an industry built on theft of real human creation and sacrifice of real human health, profiting a few megafortunes. 
2) AI and (un)sustainability

Massive consumption of electricity, water, server capacity for generative AI. 
Outcome: keep fossil fuel companies in business, using up new renewable capacity, without any satisfaction of basic human needs.
Massive misappropriation of the finance necessary for climate and ecological action (renewable generation, efficiency and retrofit for buildings, public transit, infrastructures for cycling etc) towards AI industry. 
Overall: undermine climate action, reinforce fossil industry, waste resources necessary for human development. 
3) AI and intellectual engagement

First, what learning is (or should be) about:
The goal should not (only) be the reproduction of «correct» knowledge,
But mainly personal engagement and experience of thinking about topics of interest. Personal engagement = using one’s own brain. 
The most important activity for learning and intellectual engagement is the experience of making one’s own mistakes, by trial and error, corrections based on new ideas, starting over again. Learning to recognise nuances, knowledge gaps, better explanations 
This kind of learning is possible only through using your own brain, not AI. 
Also, Ais are not «intelligent». At all. 
They simply reproduce pre-existing patterns. They «bullshit», invent false references, false facts, false data, simply because those sound plausible. VERY DANGEROUS. 
If you learn how to NOT use AI, and how to research facts and data on your own, this will serve you and your communities for the rest of your life.
23556172098
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
It matters that scientists speak out against what is being done to US science. Staying silent is neither "objective" nor "staying out of politics". Silence now *is* political - it supports the status quo, says "nothing to worry about". We need to sound the alarm. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
nature.com
Trump’s siege of science: how the first 30 days unfolded and what’s next
The breakneck pace and devastating impact of the administration’s policy changes has shocked researchers.
321393649
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
Seems like all my research projects come to the same conclusion... #ItsRelationalStupid #trust #person-centred
In short, tackling energy poverty isn't a simple fix. It's about being human-centred, establishing relationship and trust with community long before the project; be adaptable, collaborative and focused on real-world solutions that make a difference in people's lives.
040
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Resolution Foundation @resolutionfoundation.org · 17/02/2025
🚨 New research published today 🚨 For the poorest half of working households, income from work has increased & benefits decreased. But lower income families are spending a disproportionate amount of their income on Council Tax, which has become increasingly regressive. buff.ly/4gE0beF
Lalitha Try, Economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: 
“The incomes of poor households haven’t risen enough in recent decades, as the UK economy has stagnated. But where their money comes from and what it is spent on has changed considerably. 
“Two bursts of rapid jobs growth in the late 1990s and 2010s mean that earnings play an ever more important role in shaping lower income households’ living standards, while social security benefits contribute less.
“Council Tax is consuming a larger share of their poor families’ household budgets, who are spending almost as much on these bills as they pay in Income Tax. This terribly designed tax increasingly resembles the very thing it was meant to replace – the dreaded Poll Tax.”
02613
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
Setting off blearily towards the Eurostar. On an epic trip to Valencia for our final #Wellbased meeting. Impressed by how many people are up and in Leeds station at 530 in the morning.
1181
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Yep. This captures it...
0174
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Danny Cherry Jr (twitter/Insta/tiktok: @Deecherrywriter) @deecherrywriter.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Old story for @politico.com Robert, like 1000s during Jim Crow, fled to the USSR. A TIME writer had said, “nowhere else in the world is a Negro so pampered as in [USSR].” But it was all a show. Robert would be spied on and trapped in the USSR for 40 years. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
‘The Americans Got Together and Decided to Drown You in the River’
A young Black engineer sought opportunity in the Soviet Union. He ended up at the center of an international incident.
43316
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
This is a useful (but day-ruining) post on the current situation (it’s a self-coup), including a list of likely outcomes (civil war is possible, but unlikely). Also, @liberalcurrents.com is clear-eyed and becoming part of my daily reading rotation. www.liberalcurrents.com/is-it-a-coup/
liberalcurrents.com
Is It a Coup?
It is bad, it is illegal, and it is a self-coup.
25589234
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Richard Bärnthaler @rbaernthaler.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
German state repression is spiralling out of control. A German climate activist has been banned from becoming a teacher. Here are some justifications from the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts—they are completely nuts: 1/7
515292
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Dr. Jessie Christiansen @aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Walking in to NASA’s JPL today as a woman in science leadership felt almost like a protest. They can take us off the webpages and the walls, but we will still be here, absolutely crushing it, and supporting our community while we do it. Happy International Day of Women in Science, everyone.
Selfie of Jessie in a pink blazer in front of a cabinet of spacecraft models labeled DARE MIGHTY THINGS.
252381548
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Alessandro Rigolon @alerigolon.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
I was just told that I have to remove “climate” from the title of an ongoing grant if I want to keep it. And publications from that grant cannot include “climate” and other forbidden words. I can’t believe I’m writing this from the United States of America. #AcademicSky
549129075482
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
The speed and willingness of compliance. Deeply disturbing.
020
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Alessandro Rigolon @alerigolon.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Just received an email saying that it's not advisable to include the following words in future applications for research funding to the US DOT. Here we are.
1.         Climate change
2.         Greenhouse gas emissions
3.         Emissions
4.         Racial equity
5.         Gender identity
6.         Diversity, equity and inclusion
7.         Environmental justice
8.         Justice40 initiative
791365455
Reposted by Prof Lucie Middlemiss
Alison Tomlin @alisontomlin.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Hurrah. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
theguardian.com
Leeds student jailed in Saudi Arabia for 34 years over tweets is released
Salma al-Shehab was arrested in 2021 during holiday in Saudi Arabia after posting tweets in support of women’s rights
072
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
060
Prof Lucie Middlemiss @luciemidd.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Anyone else here hate being a lab rat? In our recent research about net zero, what comes out loud and clear is a distrust of government *because* infrastructure is shoddy, and falls to support decent lives. We have so much to offer here, but we are doing life with our hands tied behind our backs.
050