Publications by year
In Press
Hartley S, Stelmach A, Delborne JA, Barnhill-Dilling SK (In Press). Moving beyond narrow definitions of gene drive: Diverse perspectives and frames enable substantive dialogue among US and UK science and humanities teachers. Public Understanding of Science
Ledingham K, Opesen C, Hartley S, Neema S (In Press). Situating the social sciences in responsible innovation in the Global South: the case of gene drive mosquitoes. Journal of Responsible Innovation
2023
Barr S, Burningham K, Golding S, Guilbert S, Hartley S (2023). ACCESS Guiding Principles V4 - March 2023.
Abstract:
ACCESS Guiding Principles V4 - March 2023
WHAT ARE OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES?
The ACCESS programme has three Guiding Principles:
1. Environmental Sustainability (ES)
2. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
3. Knowledge Co-Production (KCP).
These three principles play two key roles within ACCESS. Firstly, to act as a common, intertwined, thread running through, and stitching together, different parts of the programme. Secondly, to inform, shape and guide all ACCESS activities.
Abstract.
de Graeff N, Jongsma KR, Johnston J, Hartley S, Bredenoord AL (2023). Correction to: 'The ethics of genome editing in non-human animals: a systematic review of reasons reported in the academic literature' (2019) by de Graeff et al.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci,
378(1886).
Author URL.
DOI.
Hartley S, Kokotovich A, Devos Y, Mumford J (2023). Engagement on risk assessment for gene drive mosquitoes by EFSA and Target Malaria.
Environmental Science and Policy,
142, 183-193.
Abstract:
Engagement on risk assessment for gene drive mosquitoes by EFSA and Target Malaria
As engineered gene drive technologies continue to advance, many actors are actively considering how environmental risk assessments (RAs) for gene drive organisms should be conducted, and how stakeholder engagement opportunities should be provided. There is, however, a lack of clarity concerning what constitutes engagement on gene drive RA and, furthermore, what forms of engagement already exist around gene drive RA. To address this gap, we reflect on the actions of a risk assessor (the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA) and a gene drive developer (Target Malaria) to understand: 1) the RA-related decisions that each are making concerning gene drive technology for mosquitoes and other harmful insects, 2) the existing role of engagement in those decisions, and 3) the implications for our understandings of engagement and RA. We found, first, that both EFSA and Target Malaria have already made many RA-related decisions, even though any preparation and evaluation of a formal RA for gene drive mosquitoes remains far off. This finding supports the idea that gene drive RA involves multiple processes and decisions in different forms across the entire technology and regulatory development process. Second, we found that both EFSA and Target Malaria have already integrated engagement into their respective RA-related decisions in different ways, reflecting their different roles. We conclude by considering how EFSA and Target Malaria could improve their existing RA-related engagement by explicitly considering disciplinary diversity and worldview diversity in their related decision making.
Abstract.
DOI.
Hartley S, Stelmach A, Delborne JA, Barnhill-Dilling SK (2023). Moving beyond narrow definitions of gene drive: Diverse perspectives and frames enable substantive dialogue among science and humanities teachers in the United States and United Kingdom.
Public Underst Sci,
32(6), 727-744.
Abstract:
Moving beyond narrow definitions of gene drive: Diverse perspectives and frames enable substantive dialogue among science and humanities teachers in the United States and United Kingdom.
Gene drive is an emerging biotechnology with applications in global health, conservation and agriculture. Scientists are preparing for field trials, triggering debate about when and how to release gene-drive organisms. These decisions depend on public understandings of gene drive, which are shaped by language. While some studies on gene drive communication assume the need to persuade publics of expert definitions of gene drive, we highlight the importance of meaning-making in communication and engagement. We conducted focus groups with humanities and science teachers in the United Kingdom and United States to explore how different media framings stimulated discussions of gene drive. We found diversity in the value of these framings for public debate. Interestingly, the definition favoured by gene drive scientists was the least popular among participants. Rather than carefully curating language, we need opportunities for publics to make sense and negotiate the meanings of a technology on their own terms.
Abstract.
Author URL.
DOI.
Hartley S, Kokotovich A, McCalman C (2023). Prescribing engagement in environmental risk assessment for gene drive technology.
Regulation and Governance,
17(2), 411-424.
Abstract:
Prescribing engagement in environmental risk assessment for gene drive technology
Gene drive technology is a nascent biotechnology with the potential to purposefully alter or eliminate a species. There have been broad calls for engagement to inform gene drive governance. Over the past seven years, the gene drive community has been developing risk assessment guidelines to determine what form future gene drive risk assessments take, including whether and how they involve engagement. To explore who is developing these guidelines and how engagement in risk assessment is being prescribed, we conduct a document analysis of gene drive risk assessment guideline documents from 2014 to 2020. We found that a narrow set of organizations have developed 10 key guideline documents and that with only one exception the documents prescribe a narrow, vague, or completely absent role for engagement in gene drive risk assessment. Without substantively prescribed engagement in guidelines, the relevance, rigor, and trustworthiness of gene drive risk assessment and governance will suffer.
Abstract.
DOI.
Pinyol Alberich J, Pansera M, Hartley S (2023). Understanding the EU's circular economy policies through futures of circularity.
Journal of Cleaner Production,
385, 135723-135723.
DOI.
2022
Stelmach A, Nerlich B, Hartley S (2022). Gene Drives in the U.K. U.S. and Australian Press (2015–2019): How a New Focus on Responsibility is Shaping Science Communication.
Science Communication,
44(2), 143-168.
Abstract:
Gene Drives in the U.K. U.S. and Australian Press (2015–2019): How a New Focus on Responsibility is Shaping Science Communication
Gene drive is a controversial biotechnology for pest control. Despite a commitment from gene drive researchers to responsibility and the key role of the media in debates about science and technology, little research has been conducted on media reporting of gene drive. We employ metaphor and discourse analysis to explore how responsibility is reflected in the coverage of this technology in the U.S. U.K. and Australian press. The findings reveal a rhetorical strategy of trust-building by evoking the moral attributes of gene drive researchers. We discuss the implications of these findings for the communication of new technologies.
Abstract.
DOI.
Helliwell R, Hartley S, Pearce W (2022). NGO Perspectives on the Social and Ethical Dimensions of Plant Genome-Editing. In (Ed)
Rethinking Food System Transformation, 129-141.
DOI.
Russell AW, Stelmach A, Hartley S, Carter L, Raman S (2022). Opening up, closing down, or leaving ajar? How applications are used in engaging with publics about gene drive.
Journal of Responsible Innovation,
9(2), 151-172.
Abstract:
Opening up, closing down, or leaving ajar? How applications are used in engaging with publics about gene drive
Public engagement and responsible innovation are strongly emphasised in gene drive research, together with the goal of addressing societal challenges, notably, malaria and environmental conservation. We aim to explore whether public engagement is used to ‘open up' or ‘close down' opportunities to shape gene drive research. Drawing on interviews with gene drive developers and stakeholders, we investigate how the public communication of gene drive is conceived. We find that traditional closing-down tendencies remain, but that there are new and encouraging opening-up approaches. Consistent with responsible innovation thinking, these frame gene drive as multifaceted, context-dependent and requiring deeper deliberation. We also identify a third ‘leaving ajar’ approach that seeks to engage with and respond to local communities and modify technological applications to be more acceptable. Innovation system constraints may well temper current aspirations to open up; framing public conversations around understandings of public good could offer a way forward.
Abstract.
DOI.
Devine-Wright P, Whitmarsh L, Gatersleben B, O’Neill S, Hartley S, Burningham K, Sovacool B, Barr S, Anable J (2022). Placing people at the heart of climate action.
PLOS Climate,
1Abstract:
Placing people at the heart of climate action
Profound societal change along with continued technical improvements will be required to meet our climate goals, as well as to improve people’s quality of life and ensure thriving economies and ecosystems. Achieving the urgent and necessary transformations laid out in the recently published IPCC report will require placing people at the heart of climate action. Tackling climate change cannot be achieved solely through technological breakthroughs or new climate models. We must build on the strong social science knowledge base and develop a more visible, responsive and interdisciplinary-oriented social science that engages with people and is valued in its diversity by decision-makers from government, industry, civil society and law. Further, we need to design interventions that are both effective at reducing emissions and achieve wider societal goals such as wellbeing, equity, and fairness. Given that all climate solutions will involve people in one way or another, the social sciences have a vital role to play.
Abstract.
DOI.
Connolly JB, Mumford JD, Glandorf DCM, Hartley S, Lewis OT, Evans SW, Turner G, Beech C, Sykes N, Coulibaly MB, et al (2022). Recommendations for environmental risk assessment of gene drive applications for malaria vector control.
Malaria Journal,
21(1).
Abstract:
Recommendations for environmental risk assessment of gene drive applications for malaria vector control
AbstractBuilding on an exercise that identified potential harms from simulated investigational releases of a population suppression gene drive for malaria vector control, a series of online workshops identified nine recommendations to advance future environmental risk assessment of gene drive applications.
Abstract.
DOI.
Aebischer P, Hartley S, O'Keeffe E, Tischler V (2022).
The Pandemic and Beyond: the Arts and Humanities Contribution to Covid Research and Recovery. AHRC. 37 pages.
Abstract:
The Pandemic and Beyond: the Arts and Humanities Contribution to Covid Research and Recovery
Abstract.
Hartley S, Taitingfong R, Fidelman P (2022). The principles driving gene drives for conservation.
Environmental Science and Policy,
135, 36-45.
Abstract:
The principles driving gene drives for conservation
Gene drive technology is an emerging biotechnology with the potential to address some of the
most intractable global biodiversity conservation issues. Scientists are exploring potential gene
drive applications for managing invasive species and building resilience in keystone species
threatened by climate change. The possibility to use gene drive for these conservation purposes
has triggered significant interest in how to govern its development and eventual applications. This
includes a plethora of documents prescribing governance principles, which can be a sensible
response to the governance gap created by emerging technologies and help shore up legitimacy.
We conducted qualitative documentary analysis to examine the range and substance of principles
emerging in the governance of conservation gene drive. Such analysis aimed to better understand
the aspirations guiding these applications and how scientists and other experts imagine their
responsibility in this field. We found a collection of recommendations and prescriptions that could
be organised into a set of seven emerging principles intended to shape the governance of gene
drive in conservation: broad and empowered engagement; public acceptance; decision-making
informed by broad ranging considerations, state and international collaboration; ethical
frameworks; diverse expertise; and responsible self-regulation by developers. We lay bare these
emergent principles, analyzing the way in which they are valued, prioritized, and their strengths
and weaknesses. By identifying these prescriptive principles, stakeholders can further interrogate
their merits and shortcomings and identify more concrete ways that governance frameworks might
embody them.
Abstract.
DOI.
2021
Hartley S, Ledingham K, Owen R, Leonelli S, Diarra S, Diop S (2021). Experimenting with co-development: a qualitative study of gene drive research for malaria control in Mali.
Social Science and Medicine,
276 DOI.
Smith RDJ, Hartley S, Middleton P, Jewitt T (2021). Knowing when to talk? Plant genome editing as a site for pre-engagement institutional reflexivity.
Public Understanding of Science DOI.
Kjeldaas S, Antonsen T, Hartley S, Myhr AI (2021). Public consultation on proposed revisions to norway’s gene technology act: an analysis of the consultation framing, stakeholder concerns and the integration of non-safety considerations.
Sustainability (Switzerland),
13(14).
Abstract:
Public consultation on proposed revisions to norway’s gene technology act: an analysis of the consultation framing, stakeholder concerns and the integration of non-safety considerations
In Norway, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are regulated through the Gene Technology Act of 1993, which has received international attention for its inclusion of non-safety considerations. In 2017, the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board triggered a process to revise the Act that included a public consultation and resulted in the “Proposal for relaxation.” Using post-structuralist discourse analysis, we critically analyze the premises and processes through which the proposal for relaxation was developed—including the public consultation—to understand the range of stakeholder concerns and how these concerns shaped the final proposal. We find that the proposal does not include all concerns equally. The Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board’s privileging of technological matters and its preference for tier-based regulation skewed the proposal in a way that reduced broader societal concerns to technological definitions and marginalized discussion of the social, cultural, and ethical issues raised by new gene technologies. To prevent such narrowing of stakeholder concerns in the future, we propose Latour’s model for political economy as a tool to gauge the openness of consultations for biotechnology regulation.
Abstract.
DOI.
Hartley S, Smith RDJ, Kokotovich A, Opesen C, Habtewold T, Ledingham K, Raymond B, Rwabukwali CB (2021). Ugandan stakeholder hopes and concerns about gene drive mosquitoes for malaria control: new directions for gene drive risk governance.
Malaria Journal,
20 DOI.
2020
Long KC, Alphey L, Annas GJ, Bloss CS, Campbell KJ, Champer J, Chen C-H, Choudhary A, Church GM, Collins JP, et al (2020). Core commitments for field trials of gene drive organisms.
Science,
370(6523), 1417-1419.
Abstract:
Core commitments for field trials of gene drive organisms
We must ensure that trials are scientifically, politically, and socially robust, publicly accountable, and widely transparent
Abstract.
DOI.
Hadley Kershaw E, Hartley S, McLeod C, Polson P (2020). The Sustainable Path to a Circular Bioeconomy.
Trends in Biotechnology,
39(6), 542-545.
DOI.
Ledingham K, Hartley S (2020). Transformation and slippage in co-production ambitions for global technology development: the case of gene drive.
Environmental Science and Policy DOI.
Welsh C, Pike L, Elliott J, Bailey J, Quintin-Baxendale R, Billington J, Matousek A, Matthews C, Dumitrescu D, Murphy JF, et al (2020). Why is it so hard to enact responsible change?: Scientists need to work more closely with other social groups to implement sustainable innovation.
EMBO Rep,
21(4).
Abstract:
Why is it so hard to enact responsible change?: Scientists need to work more closely with other social groups to implement sustainable innovation.
Science is key to developing sustainable products and solutions. But scientists also need to work more with governments, industry and society to help implement those solutions.
Abstract.
Author URL.
DOI.
2019
Hartley S, McLeod C, Clifford M, Jewitt S, Ray C (2019). A retrospective analysis of responsible innovation for low-technology innovation in the Global South.
Journal of Responsible Innovation,
6(2), 143-162.
Abstract:
A retrospective analysis of responsible innovation for low-technology innovation in the Global South
The role of low-technology innovation in addressing global challenges is undervalued. Responsible innovation (RI) has the potential to direct low-technology innovation toward global challenges in the Global South, yet this possibility remains largely unexplored. Through a retrospective analysis, this article explores how researchers grapple with dimensions of an RI framework in a research project and highlights key areas for researchers to consider when involved with low-technology innovation in a development context. The analysis demonstrates that RI can structure discussion and create space for anticipation, reflection and engagement with stakeholders. However, even when researchers are committed to the idea of RI, it is difficult to enact in practice. Although RI places significant emphasis on inclusive and meaningful engagement as imagined by co-development and inclusive models of innovation, the deficit model of public engagement presents a formidable barrier. Surprisingly, low-technology innovators are likely to face the same struggles as high technology innovators with regards to engagement that allows end-users to shape the technology which may ultimately benefit them.
Abstract.
DOI.
Thizy D, Emerson C, Gibbs J, Hartley S, Kapiriri L, Lavery J, Lunshof J, Ramsey J, Shapiro J, Singh J, et al (2019). Guidance on stakeholder engagement practices to inform the development of area-wide vector control methods.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases DOI.
Rosemann A, Balen A, Nerlich B, Hauskeller C, Sleeboom‐Faulkner M, Hartley S, Zhang X, Lee N (2019). Heritable Genome Editing in a Global Context: National and International Policy Challenges.
Hastings Center Report,
49(3) DOI.
Hartley S, Thizy D, Ledingham K, Coulibaly M, Diabaté A, Dicko D, Diop S, Kayondo J, Namukwaya A, Nourou B, et al (2019). Knowledge engagement in gene drive research for malaria control.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases DOI.
Helliwell R, Hartley S, Pearce W (2019). NGO perspectives on the social and ethical dimensions of plant genome-editing.
Agriculture and Human Values,
36(4), 779-791.
Abstract:
NGO perspectives on the social and ethical dimensions of plant genome-editing
Plant genome editing has the potential to become another chapter in the intractable debate that has dogged agricultural biotechnology. In 2016, 107 Nobel Laureates accused Greenpeace of emotional and dogmatic campaigning against agricultural biotechnology and called for governments to defy such campaigning. The Laureates invoke the authority of science to argue that Greenpeace is putting lives at risk by opposing agricultural biotechnology and Golden Rice and is notable in framing Greenpeace as unethical and its views as marginal. This paper examines environmental, food and farming NGOs’ social and ethical concerns about genome editing, situating these concerns in comparison to alternative ethical assessments provided by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, a key actor in this policy debate. In doing so, we show that participant NGOs and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics share considerable concerns about the social and ethical implications of genome editing. These concerns include choices over problem/solution framing and broader terminology, implications of regulatory and research choices on consumer choice and relations of power. However, GM-engaged NGOs and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics diverge on one important area: the NGOs seek to challenge the existing order and broaden the scope of debate to include deeply political questions regarding agricultural and technological choices. This distinction between the ethical positions means that NGOs provide valuable ethical insight and a useful lens to open up debate and discussion on the role of emerging technologies, such as genome editing, and the future of agriculture and food sovereignty.
Abstract.
DOI.
De Graeff N, Jongsma KR, Johnston J, Hartley S, Bredenoord AL (2019). The ethics of genome editing in non-human animals: a systematic review of reasons reported in the academic literature.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,
374(1772).
Abstract:
The ethics of genome editing in non-human animals: a systematic review of reasons reported in the academic literature
In recent years, new genome editing technologies have emerged that can edit the genome of non-human animals with progressively increasing efficiency. Despite ongoing academic debate about the ethical implications of these technologies, no comprehensive overview of this debate exists. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a systematic review of the reasons reported in the academic literature for and against the development and use of genome editing technologies in animals. Most included articles were written by academics from the biomedical or animal sciences. The reported reasons related to seven themes: human health, efficiency, risks and uncertainty, animal welfare, animal dignity, environmental considerations and public acceptability. Our findings illuminate several key considerations about the academic debate, including a low disciplinary diversity in the contributing academics, a scarcity of systematic comparisons of potential consequences of using these technologies, an underrepresentation of animal interests, and a disjunction between the public and academic debate on this topic. As such, this article can be considered a call for a broad range of academics to get increasingly involved in the discussion about genome editing, to incorporate animal interests and systematic comparisons, and to further discuss the aims and methods of public involvement. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The ecology and evolution of prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems'.
Abstract.
DOI.
2018
Hartley S, Kokotovich A (2018). 10 Disentangling risk assessment. In (Ed)
Science and the politics of openness, 176-194.
DOI.
Hartley S, Kokotovich A (2018). Disentangling risk assessment: New roles for experts and publics. In (Ed) Science and the politics of openness, 176-194.
Nerlich B, Raman S, Hartley S, Smith ATT (2018). Introduction. In (Ed) Science and the politics of openness, 1-20.
Ribeiro B, Hartley S, Nerlich B, Jaspal R (2018). Media coverage of the Zika crisis in Brazil: the construction of a ‘war’ frame that masked social and gender inequalities.
Social Science & Medicine,
200, 137-144.
DOI.
Pearce W, Hartley S, Helliwell R, O'Neill L (2018). Reply to Tagliabue.
EMBO reports,
19(4).
DOI.
Nerlich B, Hartley S, Raman S, Smith A (eds)(2018).
Science and the Politics of Openness: Here be Monsters.Abstract:
Science and the Politics of Openness: Here be Monsters
Abstract.
2017
Wickson F, Preston C, Binimelis R, Herrero A, Hartley S, Wynberg R, Wynne B (2017). Addressing Socio-Economic and Ethical Considerations in Biotechnology Governance: the Potential of a New Politics of Care.
Food Ethics,
1(2), 193-199.
DOI.
Hartley S, Pearce W, Taylor A (2017). Against the tide of depoliticisation: the politics of research governance.
Policy & Politics,
45(3), 361-377.
Abstract:
Against the tide of depoliticisation: the politics of research governance
Research has identified a general trend towards depoliticisation. Against this trend, we identify opportunities for politicisation through the international emergence of a research governance tool: ‘responsible research and innovation’ (RRI). Drawing on face-to-face interviews with university staff, we reveal two factors that influence whether research governance becomes a site of politics: actors’ acknowledgement of their societal responsibilities, and the meanings these actors attribute to RRI. RRI provides a focus for political struggles over the public value of research and innovation at a time when science policy is given a privileged role in driving economic growth.
Abstract.
DOI.
Hyde R, Hartley S, Millar K (2017). European novel foods policy at a critical juncture: Drawing lessons for future Novel Food Regulation through a retrospective examination of Regulation EC 258/97. Food and Drug Law Journal, 72 (3), 472-505.
McLeod C, Hartley S (2017). Responsibility and Laboratory Animal Research Governance. Science, Technology, and Human Values
de Campos A, Hartley S, de Koning C, Lezaun J, Velho L (2017). Responsible innovation and political accountability: genetically modified mosquitoes in Brazil.
Journal of Responsible Innovation,
4 (1), 5-23.
DOI.
Helliwell R, Hartley S, Pearce W, O'Neill L (2017). Why are. <scp>NGO</scp>. s sceptical of genome editing?.
EMBO reports,
18(12), 2090-2093.
DOI.
2016
Hartley S, Gillund F, van Hove L, Wickson F (2016). Essential Features of Responsible Governance of Agricultural Biotechnology.
PLOS Biology,
14(5), e1002453-e1002453.
DOI.
Hartley S (2016). The treatment of social and ethical concerns in policy responses to agricultural biotechnology: an historical analysis. In (Ed) The intellectual property–regulatory complex: Overcoming barriers to innovation in agricultural genomics.
Pearce W, Hartley S, Nerlich B (2016). Transparency: issues are not that simple.
Nature,
531(7592), 35-35.
DOI.
2015
Macnaghten P, Owen R, Stilgoe J, Wynne B, Azevedo A, Campo ALSD, Chilvers J, Dagnino R, Giulio GD, Frow E, et al (2015). Inovação responsável através de fronteiras: tensões, paradoxos e possibilidades.
Teoria e Pesquisa,
24(2), 18-24.
DOI.
Hartley S (2015). Policy masquerading as science: an examination of non-state actor involvement in European risk assessment policy for genetically modified animals.
Journal of European Public Policy,
23(2), 276-295.
DOI.
2014
Macnaghten PM, Owen RJ, Stilgoe J, Wynne B (2014). Responsible innovation across borders: tensions, paradoxes and possibilities.
Journal of Responsible Innovation,
1(2), 191-199.
DOI.
Hartley S, Millar KM (2014). The Challenges of Consulting the Public on Science Policy: Examining the Development of European Risk Assessment Policy for Genetically Modified Animals.
Review of Policy Research,
31(6), 481-502.
DOI.
2012
Brunk CG, Hartley S (eds)(2012).
Designer Animals Mapping the Issues in Animal Biotechnology., University of Toronto Press.
Abstract:
Designer Animals Mapping the Issues in Animal Biotechnology
Abstract.
Brunk CG, Hartley S, Rodgers LC (2012). Focusing on the values in debates about animal biotechnology. In (Ed) Designer animals: Mapping the issues in animal biotechnology.
Brunk C, Hartley S (2012). Issues of governance in animal biotechnology. In (Ed) Designer animals: Mapping the issues in animal biotechnology.
2007
Skogstad G, Hartley S (2007). Science and policy-making: the legitimation conundrum. In (Ed) Public science in liberal democracy: the challenge to science and democracy.
2006
Hartley S, Scott DN (2006). Out-of-bounds? Resisting discursive limits in the debate over food biotechnology. Canadian Review of Social Policy
2005
Hartley S, skogstad G (2005). Regulating genetically modified crops and foods in Canada and the United Kingdom: Democratizing risk regulation.
Canadian Public Administration/Administration publique du Canada,
48(3), 305-327.
DOI.