Paul Stretesky is an interdisciplinary criminologist interested in violence, inequality and the environment. He has served as the Department of Social Science Research Lead and the University of Northumbria Academic Lead for The Northern Ireland and North East England Doctoral Training Partnership (NINE). Professor Stretesky received his PhD from The Florida State University College of Criminology and Criminal Justice and is the author of seven books on crime, justice and the environment. He is described as one of the co-founders of green criminology, a field of study established in the late-90s that examines environmental harms through a criminological framework.  His research has three major emphases: (1) Environmental injustice, mainly the unequal distribution of environmental burdens and benefits as well as the unequal enforcement of environmental laws, policies and regulations--including collective responses to this injustice; (2) Natural resource related development, especially the potential impact of this development on community life; and (3) Victims and offenders, particularly the impact of social and economic inequality on crime rates and the impact of the criminal justice system on emotions, identity and self. In addition to this empirical work, professor Stretesky is also an active member of the Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University, where he works in a multi-disciplinary setting with researchers who study issues surrounding food justice and childhood food insecurity.

 

Professor Stretesky is co-editor (with Michael J. Lynch) of the Routledge Green Criminology book series and has published over 100 journal articles and book chapters. His 2014 article with Michael J. Lynch, Michael A. Long and Kimberly Barrett, "Is it a Crime to Produce Ecological Disorganization," published in the British Journal of Criminology is co-winner of the Alan Schnaiberg Outstanding Publication Award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on Environment and Technology. His article with Mark Pogrebin, Tara Opsal and Alexandra Walker, “Rejection, Humiliation and Parole” published in Symbolic Interaction was recognized by the 2016 David R. Maines Narrative Research Award. Professor Stretesky is also the sole recipient of the 2013 University of Colorado Denver Service Award for his community work with cold case homicide co-victims and the 2013 and 2014 School of Public Affairs Teaching Award recipient for his post-graduate environmental justice module and undergraduate introductory statistics module. Professor Stretesky is a Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and a member of the ESRC and NERC Peer Review Colleges.

 

His latest books include Green Criminology: Crime, Justice and the Environment (with M.J. Lynch, M.A. Long & K.L. Barrett, University of California Press, 2017), Defining Crime: A Critique of the Concept and its Implications (with M.J. Lynch & M.A. Long, Palgrave 2015) and the 2nd Edition of Environmental Law, Crime and Justice (with R.G. Burns & M.J. Lynch, LFB 2015).

 

Professor Stretesky’s research has been used as evidence in legislative debates in the US and UK and has featured in a variety of news media settings, including Colorado Public Radio, Chicago Tribune, Scientific American, Web-MD, Dallas Morning News, USA Today, Washington Post, ABC’s World News Tonight and many others.