Rob Anderson's research lies at the intersection of political ecology and science studies. He examines the discourses and practices of environmentalism in a time of multiple, interwoven crises. These crises include both tangible, urgent, global environmental crises such as climate change and biodiversity loss, but also crises of identity and agency on the part of Western environmentalists.

Rapidly evolving anthropogenic changes to the Earth’s fundamental ecological systems and processes, in the epoch now commonly described as the Anthropocene, have challenged common-sense understandings of environmentalist objectives such as preserving pristine ecosystems, protecting endangered species, or repairing or mitigating human environmental impacts.