Alex is a Research Fellow working on the EmpowerUs project. EmpowerUs is a multidisciplinary collaborative project that supports coastal communities in their transition to becoming more environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. Alex is completing a PhD in Environmental Planning at Queen's University Belfast. His research examines the influence of lock-in and path dependency in the transition to a low carbon electricity system, and how this influences the socio-political acceptance of renewable energy systems. His PhD research was funded by the MISTRAL Innovative Training Network. Alex holds an MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management from the University of Oxford and a BA (Hons) in Political Science and Aquatic Resources from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada.