Nicholas Surber

Nicholas Surber is a Doctoral Student at the Division of Science, Technology and Society, attached to the now complete Mistra Environmental Nanosafety project. His doctoral dissertation aims to place the field of nanosafety research in between the policy push for enabling technologies, safety, and sustainability in Europe and the growing interdependence between research and innovation and the economy. The practical focus is hence on anticipation, risk and legitimation of nanomaterials and nanotechnology as a seminal case of enabling technology. This work will both inform and evaluate the debates on nanomaterials in natural sciences like ecotoxicology, industrial ecology and environmental public health, while contributing to risk and economic sociology and applied ethics of technology. Of particular interest is exploring conflicting values situated across the technical-normative divide in discussions stemming from safety and sustainability concerns throughout the life cycle as nanomaterials mature into nano-enabled products and an imagined nano-enabled future economy.