CRW2016_02

My research background has provided a variety of opportunities to explore my area of interest in Health and General Well-being (with particular interest in rural areas) from various disciplinary stances. I recently completed my PhD project in Human Geography and Human Computer Interaction (a field in Computing Science), which involved designing technology for largely housebound older adults living in rural areas, to improve opportunities for engagement with activities in the local community.

Annie is a social researcher in land management at the James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen (formerly the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute), having joined the Institute in October 2010. She completed her PhD research within the ‘Sustainable Estates for the 21st Century’ project run by the Centre for Mountain Studies, specifically focussing on private landownership and community engagement.

Dr Lorna Philip is Senior Lecturer in Human Geography and Depute Head of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Aberdeen.  Lorna has an established international profile as a rural social scientist with particular expertise in social exclusion and demographic change in rural areas.  She employs both quantitative and qualitative methods in her research, frequently within an explicitly mixed methods design.

Mags is a human geographer working in the health and wellbeing position in the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Group within the theme of society, institutions and governance. She joined the James Hutton Institute in January 2013.

We have recently witnessed some of the worst flooding in living memory in Scotland. We know from previous research (2007 Werritty et al) that the impacts on people’s lives can be devastating and long term. It is essential that we understand these impacts better and consider what types of support and advice people and communities need at different stages of a long term recovery.