👤 Claire Shields
Environmental Cyberpsychology Researcher
📍 United Kingdom
🌐 claireshields.com
📧 claire_shields@outlook.com
🧭 Profile
I’m a UK-based researcher exploring the environmental psychology of digital technologies. My work investigates why tools like generative AI feel clean, immaterial, and harmless — and how this shapes attitudes and behaviours around sustainability.
I combine a background in Computer Science and digital learning with postgraduate research in Psychology, focusing on environmental cognition, moral disengagement, and digital materiality.
🔍 Research Interests
- Public perceptions of AI’s environmental footprint
- Psychological distance and digital environmental harm
- Moral disengagement and digital behaviour
- Environmental identity and human–AI interaction
- Digital sustainability and communication framing
🎓 Education
MSc Psychology (Ongoing)
Univerisity of Essex, UK
Thesis: “Invisible Harm: Public Perceptions of AI’s Environmental Footprint”
MBChB Medicine
University of Liverpool, UK
🧪 Academic Outputs
- Working Paper: “The Clean Illusion: AI and the Psychology of Digital Environmental Harm” (in progress)
- The Impact of Eco-anxiety on Children’s Emotional Development.
- The Impact of AI-Assisted Ideation Tools on Cognitive Load and Neural Engagement During Creative Tasks.
- Sex Differences in Psychopathy.
- Patchwork Essay: Critical Social Psychology Reflections.
🛠 Skills
- Environmental and cyberpsychology
- Research design and data analysis (qual + quant)
- Thematic analysis, IPA
- Academic writing and synthesis
- Stakeholder engagement and science communication
🧰 Technical Tools
- NVivo, SPSS
- WordPress, HTML/CSS
- Canva, Figma, MS Office
- Python (basic analysis and NLP)
- Blackboard, Moodle, SCORM-compliant VLEs
👥 Memberships
- British Psychological Society (Student Member)
- Climate Mental Health Network
- Climate Psychology Alliance
Claire Shields 