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Visiting Fellow, The Media School, Bournemouth University

Sue Thomas is a writer and Visiting Fellow in The Media School at Bournemouth University. She was Research Professor of New Media at De Montfort University from 2005-13, and Director of the trAce Online Writing Centre at Nottingham Trent University from 1995-2005.

Her most recent book is 'Technobiophilia: Nature and Cyberspace' (2013), where she interrogates the prevalence online of nature-derived metaphors and imagery and come to a surprising conclusion. The root of this trend, she believes, lies in biophilia, defined by biologist E.O. Wilson as ‘the innate attraction to life and lifelike processes’. The restorative qualities of biophilia can alleviate mental fatigue and enhance our capacity for directed attention, soothing our connected minds and easing our relationship with computers. In this wide-ranging transdisciplinary study she explores the strong thread of biophilia which runs through our online lives, a phenomenon she calls ‘technobiophilia’, or, the ‘innate attraction to life and lifelike processes as they appear in technology’.

Her blog Technobiophilia seeks to discover and share new ideas, apps, books and devices for nature and wellbeing in the digital age.

Experience

  • 2013–present
    Visiting Fellow, The Media School, University of Bournemouth
  • 2005–2013
    Professor of New Media, De Montfort University
  • 1995–2005
    Director, trAce Online Writing Centre, Nottingham Trent University

Education

  • 2005 
    Nottingham Trent University, PhD
  • 1988 
    Nottingham Trent University, BA Hons Humanities (English & History)

Publications

  • 2013
    Technobiophilia: nature and cyberspace, Bloomsbury
  • 2004
    Hello World: travels in virtuality, Raw Nerve
  • 1995
    Creative Writing: A Handbook For Workshop Leaders , Nottingham University Press
  • 1994
    Water, Overlook, Five Leaves
  • 1994
    Wild Women: Contemporary Short Stories By Women Celebrating Women, Overlook, Vintage
  • 1992
    Correspondence, The Women's Press, Overlook