Hope Steadman

Smart River Governance: Examining the Feminist Digital Ecologies of the River Thames

Hope began her DPhil in Geography and the Environment in October 2023. Her doctoral research explores digital mediations of rivers in Oxfordshire, examining how groups including wild swimmers, citizen scientists and environmental consultants use digital technologies to shape their experiences, knowledge and management of river environments. Her work engages with feminist digital geography, science and technology studies (STS), and media studies. The research is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council via the Grand Union DTP.

Alongside her doctoral research, Hope has developed experience working across academia, policy and practice. In 2025, she completed a research placement with the Environment Agency, contributing to applied research on river environments and digital data practices, and gaining experience working at the interface of environmental governance, regulation and public engagement. She has also contributed to projects with organisations including the National Trust, the Lifescape Project and the Global Centre on Healthcare & Urbanisation. In 2025-6, she taught as a Teaching Assistant on the MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance, supporting teaching on environmental governance, social theory and research design.

Hope gained a BSc in Geography from the University of Birmingham (First Class Honours) and an MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance from the University of Oxford (Distinction). Her Master’s dissertation examined digitally mediated human–nonhuman encounters at a rewilding site in Scotland and their implications for environmental governance.

Prior to academia, Hope worked in the technology sector across roles spanning digital products, data and user engagement, including positions at Zego, Thames Water and TouchNote. This experience informs her research interest in how digital systems shape knowledge, decision-making and everyday environmental practices.
 

Awards

• The Gordon Wallace Prize, Keble College (2023)
• Durham Prize, Keble College (2023)
• ERSC Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership Award, University of Oxford (2022)
• Dissertation Prize, History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group (2017)
• WA Cadbury Prize, University of Birmingham (2017)
• Emmeline H Cadbury Prize in Geography, University of Birmingham (2016)

• Steadman, H. (2025) ‘Resigned reductionism: Reconceptualising digital imaginaries of automated natural capital’, Geoforum, 162, 104292.

• Steadman, H. (2025) Resigned Reductionism. Paper presented in the ‘Nature, Surveillance, Governance: Experiments in Smart Earth' session at the American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, Detroit.
• Steadman, H. (2024) Smart River Governance: Examining the Feminist Digital Ecologies of the River Thames. Paper presented at the Digital Dimensions of Nature Recovery Conference at Jesus College, University of Oxford, Oxford.