Dr Pete Howson

Assistant Professor

School: Geography and Natural Sciences

My research looks at how AI, token economies, space technologies, and prediction markets are changing human relationships with the non-human world. I also consider how these same technologies are deployed to enable more equitable post-capitalist futures.

I lead the MSc in Disaster Managent and Sustainable Development. Before joining Northumbria, I led the International Development programme at Nottingham Trent University. In 2016 I was a Post-doc Researcher at Colorado State University, looking at Palau’s National Marine Sanctuary. Before that, I was based at Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand. My PhD research explored the political ecology of climate finance in Indonesia.

A full list of my articles, news interviews and podcasts, are available via .

Campus Address

Room B.310, Ellison Building

Email Pete

Key Publications

Crypto Crises: How digital currencies accelerate global instability, Redshaw, T., Howson, P. 28 Apr 2026
Extra terra nullius: Off-worlding the externalities of AI, Bitcoin mining and cloud computing with Orbital Data Centres, Howson, P. 1 Jun 2026, In: Energy Research and Social Science
STEM Wars: winning hearts and minds for private sector ‘NewSpace’ industries  , Howson, P. 1 Nov 2025, In: Space Policy
Understanding farmers’ attitudes and aspirations for tree-cover restoration in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania  , Durrant, E., Howson, P., Sallu, S., Shirima, D., Lala, M., Milheiras, S., Lyimo, F., Nyiti, ., Mwanga, L., Kioko, E., Pfeifer, M. 1 Mar 2025, In: Forest Policy and Economics
Crypto/Space: computational parasitism, virtual land grabs, and the production of Web3 ‘Exit zones’, Howson, P., Rosales, A., Jutel, O., Gloerich, I., Llorens, M., de Vries, A., Crandall, J., Dolan, P. 1 Nov 2024, In: Political Geography
Poor Miners and Empty E-wallets: Latin American experiences with cryptocurrencies in crisis, Rosales, A., van Roekel, E., Howson, P., Kanters, C. 1 Mar 2024, In: Human Geography
Existing evidence on the use of participatory scenarios in ecological restoration: a systematic map, Durrant, E., Howson, P., Puttick, B., Potts, S., Shennan-Farpón, Y., Sari, N., Allen, N., Jo, Y., Grainger, M., Teh, Y., Pfeifer, M. 30 Nov 2023, In: Environmental Evidence
Let Them Eat Crypto: The Blockchain Scam That's Ruining the World, Howson, P. 20 Oct 2023
Tributary, Davoll, J., Dolan, P., Howson, P. 8 May 2023
Asia-Pacific ClimateScapes: Exploring opportunities, challenges and trade-offs toward just transitions for decarbonisation, Howson, P., Astuti, R., Hensengerth, O., Kindon, S. 22 Jun 2022

PGR Supervision

Daniel Walsh From the Geo to the Astro: Examining the Spaceflight Production Process from the Gulf of Mexico to Beyond Earth Start Date: 01/10/2024
Daniel Walsh From the Geo to the Astro: Examining the Spaceflight Production Process from the Gulf of Mexico to Beyond Earth Start Date: 01/10/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025

Qualifications