Professor Thomas Cuckston

Professor Thomas Cuckston

The Department of Accounting
Professor of Accounting and Ecology
Head of the Department of Accounting

Contact details

Address
Birmingham Business School
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT

Professor Thomas Cuckston leads research at the intersection of the accounting and ecology disciplines, building rigorous theoretical understanding about how humanity can organise sustainable development that delivers economic wellbeing whilst restoring the biological diversity and ecological integrity of Earth’s biosphere.   

Qualifications

  • Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy
  • PhD Newcastle University
  • BSc (Hons) Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge

Biography

Research interests:

- Biodiversity Conservation

- Sustainable Development

- Calculation, Agency and Strategy

Teaching

  • BSc Accounting and Finance
  • MSc International Accounting and Finance

Research

Research interests

  • Biodiversity Conservation
  • Sustainable Development
  • Calculation, Agency and Strategy

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Lamont, T, Barlow, J, Bebbington, J, Cuckston, T, Djohani, R, Garrett, R, Jones, H, Razak, T & Graham, N 2023, 'Hold big business to task on ecosystem restoration: Corporate reporting must embrace holistic, scientific principles', Science, vol. 381, no. 6662, pp. 1053-1055. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adh2610

Cuckston, T 2022, 'Accounts of NGO performance as calculative spaces: wild animals, wildlife restoration and strategic agency', Critical Perspectives on Accounting, vol. 84, 102374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpa.2021.102374

Munasinghe, M, Cuckston, T & Rowbottom, N 2021, 'Sustainability certification as marketisation: Rainforest Alliance in the Sri Lankan tea production industry', Accounting Forum, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 247-272. https://doi.org/10.1080/01559982.2021.1893053

Sobkowiak, M, Cuckston, T & Thomson, I 2020, 'Framing sustainable development challenges: accounting for SDG-15 in the UK', Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, vol. 33, no. 7, pp. 1671-1703. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-01-2019-3810

Cuckston, T 2019, 'Creating financial value for tropical forests by disentangling people from nature', Accounting Forum, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 219-234 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.accfor.2018.07.001

Cuckston, T 2019, 'Seeking an ecologically defensible calculation of net loss/gain of biodiversity', Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 1358-1383. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-01-2018-3339

Cuckston, T 2018, 'Making extinction calculable', Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 849-874. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-10-2015-2264

Cuckston, T 2017, 'Ecology-centred accounting for biodiversity in the production of a blanket bog', Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 1537-1567. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-12-2015-2330

Cuckston, T 2013, 'Bringing tropical forest biodiversity conservation into financial accounting calculation', Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 688-714. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-02-2013-1231

Chapter

Bebbington, J, Cuckston, T & Feger, C 2021, Biodiversity. in J Bebbington, C Larrinaga, B O'Dwyer & I Thomson (eds), Routledge Handbook of Environmental Accounting. 1 edn, Routledge Environment and Sustainability Handbooks, Routledge, pp. 377-387. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367152369-33

Comment/debate

Feger, C, Mermet, L, Vira, B, Addison, PFE, Barker, R, Birkin, F, Burns, J, Cooper, S, Couvet, D, Cuckston, T, Daily, GC, Dey, C, Gallagher, L, Hails, R, Jollands, S, Mace, G, Mckenzie, E, Milne, M, Quattrone, P, Rambaud, A, Russell, S, Santamaria, M & Sutherland, WJ 2019, 'Four priorities for new links between conservation science and accounting research', Conservation Biology, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 972-975. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13254

Cuckston, T 2018, 'Making accounting for biodiversity research a force for conservation', Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 218-226. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969160X.2018.1516559

Commissioned report

Cuckston, T 2022, Risks of perverse outcomes from accelerating natural capital thinking: a reflection. <https://wevaluenature.eu/sites/default/files/2022-04/We_Value_Nature_Natural_Capital_Thinking_Briefing_Paper.pdf>

Editorial

Cuckston, T 2021, 'Editorial: Accounting and Conservation: to live in harmony with nature, we must organise nature', Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, vol. 41, no. 1-2, pp. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969160X.2021.1889388

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