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This thesis for PhD by Publication presents artworks and writing that propose and create ‘other worlds’. Many of the artworks and writing engage scientific concepts, both historical and contemporary, however it is the phenomenological aspects of these ideas that are engaged. The research mostly deals with the infinitesimal and the distant, neuroscience, astrophysics and sometimes both. It also deals with boundaries as porous and indefinite thresholds, a reoccurring concept in my research. The artworks are mainly participatory as it is my aim to develop a strategy for ‘inhabitation’. I introduce three forms of intuition as methodologies with which to engage with phenomena outside of our human sensorium. They are as follows: Firstly, structural intuition by means of Martin Kemp, a sensory and haptic understanding of the world that affords insights into more abstract or elusive materials or ways of being. Secondly, intuition as method by means of Henri Bergson, a form of ‘looking from within’ that attempts to engage the with beings or phenomena that lie outside of our sensory system and abstract or intellectual domain. I expand on Bergon’s method via Gilles Delueze’s heterogeneous field and Elizabeth Grosz’s further development of this method. And thirdly I also include panpsychism as a form of ‘being with’ the non-human or phenomenon by means of William James, David Chalmers, Karen Barad and Christof Koch. This is not to prove panpsychism as a reality but to understand it as a tool to build a bridge between human and other beings, things, atmospheres with which we share our world and beyond. In the conclusion I briefly address the ‘non-human turn’ as an expansion of our understanding of sentience in things, beings and atmospheres. I have proposed these forms of intuition to draw attention to the methodologies I use when working with ideas that lie outside of my expertise. These methods also apply to research that does not have scientific origins. These methods form a framework for process and production of artworks when engaging with the abstract, invisible or elusive. The main body of the research in this PhD by publication is presented in the forms of artworks and articles. The artworks The Fragmented Orchestra (Grant, Matthias, 6 Ryan, 2008), Ghost (Grant, 2011) and Plasticity (Grant, Matthias, Kin, Ryan, 2011) have at their core research on models of firing neurons with particular reference to Eugene Izhikevich’s work on spike timing dependent plasticity. I also draw from Henri Bergson’s work on memory and Gilles Deleuze’s work on fields. Other research presented includes artworks and papers relating more to astrophysical concepts at their core are Soft Moon, (Grant. 2010), Soft Moon: Exploring Matter and Mutability in Narratives and Histories of the Earth-Moon System, (Grant, 2013) Fathom, (Grant, Matthias, 2013) and newer works. These works reference Bergson once more, the physicist Lee Smolin, writer Italo Calvino and Stanislaw Lem, and others. Here I integrate art, science, science-fiction, and philosophy alongside the writing of architect Juhani Pallasmaa. This document describes my aim to inhabit other worlds (often from the histories of science) by engaging overlapping methodologies of intuition and practice in which I attempt to engage directly with the abstract, the unfathomable, the distant, or the miniscule. I have developed this strategy to allow me to create artworks and writing that externalize these aims and that allow others, participants and readers, to encounter and engage in these other worlds too. This interdisciplinary and rhizomatic strategy synthesizes ideas into new forms with which we can inhabit the uninhabitable.

This research investigated the ecological significance of GW-SW interactions in the hyporheic zone of two Scottish mountain rivers (the Girnock Burn and the River Feshie).  The research comprised three components: (i) an assessment of the influence of GW-SW interactions on the spatio-temporal variability of hyporheic hydrochemistry and macroinvertebrate community structure, (ii) an evaluation of the influence of GW-SW dynamics on small-scale spatio-temporal variability in hyporheic thermal regimes, and (iii) an investigation of the spatial relationship between Atlantic salmon Salmo salar (L.) spawning distributions and patterns of GW-SW exchange in a braided river reach. In the Girnock, marked inter- and intra-reach differences in hyporheic water quality were found and linked to spatio-temporal variability in GW-SW exchange.  Up to 25% of the spatial variability in invertebrate community structure could be accounted for by differences in hyporheic water quality.  Community composition varied markedly between winter, spring and summer seasons, with the relative importance of individual water quality variables differing between seasons. There was much heterogeneity in streambed temperature regimes across the study reaches, with data suggesting that long-residence groundwater contributed significantly to hyporheic exchange.  However, at small (cm to m) scales thermal variability was most likely explained by the interaction of reach-scale GW-SW exchanges with smaller-scale, current-bed form induced hyporheic exchange. In a braided section of the River Feshie, spatially complex and temporally dynamic GW-SW exchange patterns occurred.  Salmon spawning was concentrated in locations characterised by upwelling groundwater at depth, with up to 66% of spawning sites recorded in groundwater dominated channels.

This thesis responds to a great gap in empirical research on the organised women's movement, examining both its governance and ways of working, to see how successfully it is responding to the challenge of change. It does this mainly through seventeen case studies - eight traditional organisations from 'first wave' feminism, eight organisations from the women's movement in the 1970s and the Fawcett Society as a bridge between the two. The case studies were selected through a process of network sampling combined with a desire for balance in size, type and area of activity. They are examined through the lenses of a variety of research questions raised by the literature. The methodology is qualitative, using a combination of feminist and organisational theory, voluntary sector governance and grounded theory. It draws on the researcher's long experience as a participant observer in the women's movement, but at its core are in depth semi-structured interviews with at least two participants, with different standpoints, from each organisation. The research reveals a sector which is proving very adaptive in the face of change resulting from a range of contingency factors. It finds a much more 'hybrid' sector with traditional organisations beginning to dismantle layers of bureaucracy and hierarchy while the women's movement groups are building in more structure as they find it no longer appropriate to operate completely flat structures. All parts of the sector have struggled to overcome 'power illiteracy' and develop affirming models of leadership. In spite of the many challenges it faces, the organised women's movement is transformational both in its effect on the wider community and on individual women. I have certainly found it transforming, as have those interviewees who have been inspired to write up their own experience. Although rooted in the literature, this research is action-orientated, intended to be relevant and useful to practitioners in the movement as well as academics. It ends with a detailed list of criteria and recommendations for the better governance and management of women's organisations, and proposals for dissemination.