معرفی
Niamh Anna O'Dowd is a Research Fellow at the University of Oslo, specializing in cognitive linguistics and critical discourse analysis. Her work focuses on figurative language in environmental and climate discourses, particularly the interplay of multimodal elements (text and imagery) in shaping public perception. She holds a PhD from the University of Oslo (2021–2025) and an MA in Applied Linguistics from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2019–2020). O’Dowd is Co-Chair of MetNet Scandinavia and a founding member of the Figurative Communication research group.
Education:
- PhD in Linguistics, University of Oslo (2021–2025)
- MA in English Applied Linguistics, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2019–2020)
- BA (Hons) in English and French, University of Exeter (2013–2017)
Research Interests: Her studies explore how metaphor, metonymy, and irony function in climate activism (e.g., Fridays For Future slogans) and environmental NGO campaigns. She investigates multimodal framing effects, especially in plastic pollution and climate change discourses, combining experimental methods with socio-cognitive approaches. Recent work analyzes the emotional and evaluative dimensions of figurative language in youth climate activism and cross-linguistic comparisons of climate change hope discourses.
Awards and Roles:
- Completion Grant Fellow, University of Oslo (2025)
- Co-Chair, MetNet Scandinavia (Scandinavian metaphor researchers' network)
Teaching: Teaches courses on English linguistics, literature, and climate communication, including ENG4152 (Varieties of English Texts) and MEVIT2616 (Communicating Climate Change).
Research Groups: Active in Figurative Communication and Pragmatics: Theory & Experiments at the University of Oslo.
