Cyberbullying may play a role in asthma fatalities (July, 2022)
Some of my latest research, led by Dr Vanja Ljevar in her PhD research, has hit the headlines in identifying cyberbullying as a factor relating to asthma fatalities. This study is notably the first we know of to compare patients' perceptions of asthma with perceptions of asthma held by the wider public. Asthma patients often believe they are viewed as 'weak', 'nerds', or 'outcasts' and an analysis of Twitter perceptions discovered evidence of such perceptions expressed by others, which could be considered as cyberbullying. Stigmatisation of people with asthma can lead to marginalisation among asthma patients, likely to lead to less adherence to medication. |
Participatory Nature (Sep, 2020)
I collaborated with artist, Jessica Emsley, on artwork that responds to my research. We focused on making environmental issues salient through a shared identity and embodied experience - see blog post and artwork here as part of Creative Reactions and the Pint of Science festival.
Jessica sent out postcards to volunteers that were hand-cut using shapes from between blades of grass. The volunteers were asked to hold the postcards up against a natural backdrop in their local area in a representation of taking natural spaces into our own hands. You can still download the template yourself if you fancy having a go - see the Creative Reactions blog to see how. |
Woman's Hour - March 2020Radio 4 - On Women's Hour talking about why people find it hard to take climate change seriously. Available here
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e-Genie - Digital visualisations in the workplace
Our latest paper on increasing energy efficiency in the workplace is now out in Buildings Research and Information and describes our trial of the e-Genie tool we have developed. The e-Genie tool is an energy feedback system created by within the C-tech project by myself and collaborators at the University of Nottingham, and UCL in conjunction with the Centre for Sustainable Energy. Its aim is to engage staff with energy data and support them to take action to reduce energy use.
We are pleased to note that the a field study using e-Genie to promote energy conservation carried out at Nottinghamshire County Council offices noted a 25% decrease in energy use in the 2 week period after e-Genie was installed with reductions continuing over time, with a 37% reduction observed after 6 weeks, compared to baseline use. Convergent pre- and post survey work indicated that most behaviour changes were observed in social energy behaviour, in the way that people were prepared to discuss and suggest changes in energy use.
Phil Keynes, Team Manager at Nottinghamshire County Council was involved in the project and said: ‘’e-Genie proved a really useful and visual way of positively engaging staff in facilities and energy management. It helped our staff to understand the complexities of maintaining comfort levels throughout the building and generated some great ideas for improvement.’’
A bit of press coverage too, see one of the articles here
We are pleased to note that the a field study using e-Genie to promote energy conservation carried out at Nottinghamshire County Council offices noted a 25% decrease in energy use in the 2 week period after e-Genie was installed with reductions continuing over time, with a 37% reduction observed after 6 weeks, compared to baseline use. Convergent pre- and post survey work indicated that most behaviour changes were observed in social energy behaviour, in the way that people were prepared to discuss and suggest changes in energy use.
Phil Keynes, Team Manager at Nottinghamshire County Council was involved in the project and said: ‘’e-Genie proved a really useful and visual way of positively engaging staff in facilities and energy management. It helped our staff to understand the complexities of maintaining comfort levels throughout the building and generated some great ideas for improvement.’’
A bit of press coverage too, see one of the articles here
C-tech (Creating the Energy for Change) project launch
The Creating the energy for Change (C-tech) project is a 5 year EPSRC project focusing on engaging and supporting people in workplace environments to cooperate in saving energy. We joined forces with TEDDINET in developing a symposium on non-domestic energy research to bring researchers and stakeholders together in this field in order to launch our findings and discuss relevant current and future issues in this space. This event took place at the Digital Catapult in London on Monday 26th June, see event details here. Our final project report can be accessed here.
The symposium brought together more than 40 researchers, industry stakeholders, ngos, and policy-makers to share their experiences of energy and sustainability in non-domestic buildings, and to reflect on the contributions of the C-tech project.
The symposium brought together more than 40 researchers, industry stakeholders, ngos, and policy-makers to share their experiences of energy and sustainability in non-domestic buildings, and to reflect on the contributions of the C-tech project.
The Role of Guilt in Cooperation
A bit of media coverage here and there of our new study published in Nature Scientific Reports. We found that feeling guilty has a positive effect on our behaviour and can lead to better cooperation. We examined this in an energy sharing scenario and found that when energy use was made visible with smart meters and usage in unequal, as is common, the group reacted angrily and retaliated by using more energy. But if the person using more energy felt guilty and moderated their usage the situation would be repaired and cooperation restored.
The Carbon Journey at Genting Arena
I was very pleased to be a speaker at The Carbon Journey at Genting Arena on 31st October 2016. This is an annual event primarily for students at Aston and Birmingham City University, as well as relevant industry partners to discuss how climate change will impact society, business and the professions. The feedback from students was overwhelmingly positive and the event was Highly Commended for the Green Gowns award. |
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First trial of e-Genie at The Digital Catapult in London
Our Creating the energy for change project (Ctech) successfully launched a beta version of the newly developed software e-Genie on Tuesday March 22nd at the Digital Catapult in London, see blog post here.
e-Genie is an energy engagement tool developed from the integration of interdiciplinary insights from Psychology, Sociology, and Computer Science research within the Ctech project. The tool provides energy information feedback (both electricity and gas) to building users, and encourages engagement with that information through interactions with the data, comparing historical patterns of energy data, and labeling patterns observed. Furthermore e-Genie encourages people to take action to reduce energy use by providing users with support for: planning individual behaviour changes; discussing issues with other building users; and by contacting the Facilities Manager directly.
The current deployment of e-Genie will allow us to refine the tool and develop it for further larger scale trials. We hope that the tool's use will result in significant reductions in energy use but is also designed to allow us to test hypotheses around the best way to engage workplace building users with energy saving efforts.
e-Genie is an energy engagement tool developed from the integration of interdiciplinary insights from Psychology, Sociology, and Computer Science research within the Ctech project. The tool provides energy information feedback (both electricity and gas) to building users, and encourages engagement with that information through interactions with the data, comparing historical patterns of energy data, and labeling patterns observed. Furthermore e-Genie encourages people to take action to reduce energy use by providing users with support for: planning individual behaviour changes; discussing issues with other building users; and by contacting the Facilities Manager directly.
The current deployment of e-Genie will allow us to refine the tool and develop it for further larger scale trials. We hope that the tool's use will result in significant reductions in energy use but is also designed to allow us to test hypotheses around the best way to engage workplace building users with energy saving efforts.
Facilities Management paper wins BSA prize
(Jan, 2016) A recent paper written by myself and Murray Goulden on the role of the FM in organisational energy use has been highlighted by the British Sociological Association as worthy of an award. We have been placed third in prizes awarded for noteworthy sociological papers relating to climate change. There will be a prize giving in the spring and the judges note:
“Goulden and Spence make a strong theoretical and empirical case for paying greater attention to ‘middle agents’ in energy networks, in this case the apparently mundane role of Facilities Manager. Studying these managers provide key insights to the messy issues and conflicting logics that lie behind macro-scale carbon reduction targets. The paper brings together literature on energy consumption and organisational sociology with rich empirical detail, with a welcome eye on practical recommendations for action.”
“Goulden and Spence make a strong theoretical and empirical case for paying greater attention to ‘middle agents’ in energy networks, in this case the apparently mundane role of Facilities Manager. Studying these managers provide key insights to the messy issues and conflicting logics that lie behind macro-scale carbon reduction targets. The paper brings together literature on energy consumption and organisational sociology with rich empirical detail, with a welcome eye on practical recommendations for action.”
Creating the Energy for Change (C-tech) feature
(Jan, 2016) Our Ctech research is featured in the latest EPSRC blog written by me! See here.
The blogpost particularly focuses on the impact that the project work has had in reducing energy consumption in workplaces already and looks forward to future project ambitions.
The blogpost particularly focuses on the impact that the project work has had in reducing energy consumption in workplaces already and looks forward to future project ambitions.
Public Perceptions of Demand Side Management
(May, 2015) Some great coverage of our latest paper in Nature Climate Change on Public Perceptions of Demand Side Management (DSM). See articles in the Guardian, the New Scientist and The Sunday Telegraph.
Notably we find that people with affordability concerns about energy are less likely to accept DSM, and this is partly explained by a lower willingness to share their energy data. Indeed a significant proportion of people across the UK (around 20%) said they wouldn't share their data with any of the groups we specified. |
2015 Psychology PG Conference
The 2015 University of Nottingham Postgraduate conference will take place on Friday 17th April. Looks to be a good line up, see the conference programme here and thanks to our conference committee Fabio Parente, Jenny Tellett, Lawrence Ma Ka Yin, and Alex Turcan. |
Perceptions of Climate Change after the Floods
We launched some of our latest survey findings at the Royal Society on 29th January, well received by a audience of academics, policy makers and NGOs.
Notably we find that public belief in climate change has increased since our last surveys and is at its highest in 10 years according to our tracker questions. Most people seem to be linking the extreme floods we have in recent years to climate change and think that these are a sign of things to come. And those who have experienced flooding seem to be even more certain, concerned and consider climate change psychologically closer.
Some good bits of press coverage too - see the BBC, the Guardian and the Independent for example.
Notably we find that public belief in climate change has increased since our last surveys and is at its highest in 10 years according to our tracker questions. Most people seem to be linking the extreme floods we have in recent years to climate change and think that these are a sign of things to come. And those who have experienced flooding seem to be even more certain, concerned and consider climate change psychologically closer.
Some good bits of press coverage too - see the BBC, the Guardian and the Independent for example.
Recent Research on Shared Energy Displays
Some of our latest research and particular this recent paper on shared energy displays featured in the New Yorker! http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/smart-angry-home |
UKERC - Smart Grid Scenarios for the UK
The findings of our Smart Grid Scenarios UKERC project were launched on the 25th February 2014 at The Royal Society in London.
Developed using expert and public feedback, the research identifies four possible smart grid futures or ‘scenarios’; from a world dominated by gas with little smart grid development (‘Minimum Smart’), to one where renewables and electric vehicles are strongly incentivised and developed; leading to a consumer driven smart grid (‘Smart 2050’).
Reports are available on the Project website or see my Publications page.
Developed using expert and public feedback, the research identifies four possible smart grid futures or ‘scenarios’; from a world dominated by gas with little smart grid development (‘Minimum Smart’), to one where renewables and electric vehicles are strongly incentivised and developed; leading to a consumer driven smart grid (‘Smart 2050’).
Reports are available on the Project website or see my Publications page.
UKERC - Transforming the UK Energy System
The findings of our UKERC project which explored public perceptions of the future UK energy system were launched on the 16th July 2013 at The Royal Society in London.
The synthesis report brings together the findings from two in-depth phases of research carried out over 30 months; a series of six in-depth deliberative workshops with members of the public held across England, Scotland and Wales; and a nationally representative survey of 2,441 members of the public
Reports are available on the Publications page, and on the Project website.
See here for a Podcast available from a recent academic talk I gave at the Institute of Science and Society providing some first results of our more in-depth analysis of this data.
The synthesis report brings together the findings from two in-depth phases of research carried out over 30 months; a series of six in-depth deliberative workshops with members of the public held across England, Scotland and Wales; and a nationally representative survey of 2,441 members of the public
Reports are available on the Publications page, and on the Project website.
See here for a Podcast available from a recent academic talk I gave at the Institute of Science and Society providing some first results of our more in-depth analysis of this data.
URN - The Science Show
Featuring me! See podcast here