Welcome to our new SPE Research Centre Members who have recently joined UWE . We have continued to grow as a research centre in capacity and outstanding research endeavours. We are very pleased to welcome our new members as they take on and excel in their different roles.
Amanda Ramsay
I joined SPE in May, having been awarded my PhD from the University of Bristol (social sciences and law), through an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) studentship with the Productive Margins, regulating for engagement project. This was a practice-oriented exploration through a placement with Knowle West Media Centre of the lived experience and user engagement with the policy of neighbourhood planning in an area of south Bristol known as Knowle West.
Research interests include UK government and politics, social inclusion and levelling-up, and more specifically the relational aspects of neighbourhood planning and the vital role of trust and network power (as an entanglement of power relations) in work of this nature. Former parliamentary researcher during the Blair administration, I worked for government minister and Manchester Labour MP Graham Stringer (Cabinet Office and Government Whip).
I was elected Cabinet member for Equalities and Social Inclusion and London Councillor (2002-2006). International experience includes working in Africa, Bermuda, Canada, Spain, and Italy, with a background in communications, media, and policy.
Carla De Laurentis
I have joined UWE in the summer 2022 as a Lecturer in Environmental Management. I am passionate about teaching, and I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. I contribute to the design and delivery of a range of sustainability and energy transition modules at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Prior to join UWE, I worked for the School of Management (Cardiff Metropolitan University) and the School of Geography and Planning and the School of Architecture (Cardiff University), where I completed my doctorate research.
My research interests converge around the geography of innovation and the role of policy in promoting local and regional development. My recent research investigated why regions show different patterns in the emergence of renewable energy systems and sought to understand the implementation of circular economy practices in public sector organisations.
I am currently a co-investigator in the project ‘Is there an afterlife for wind installations in Italy? The project investigates the magnitude and variety of the challenges related to end-of-life and waste management of wind energy infrastructure in Italy.
Yarden Woolf
I am currently a fully funded PhD researcher at the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environment and the Centre for Public health and Wellbeing.
My research looks to explore the relationship between students’ experience in greenspace, nature connectedness and pro-environmental behaviour. My previous Master’s research looked at how users experience the Regent’s Canal in relation to its spatial attributes.
I am also a certified landscape architect and urban designer, with nearly eight years of experience working on different planning projects.
Heather Rumble
I joined in February as a Senior Lecturer in Healthy Urban Environments, having spent eight years teaching Environmental Geography at the University of Portsmouth. I’m an urban ecologist with a background in soil ecology, particularly on green roofs.
My research is cross-cutting, spanning the physical and social sciences, focussing on how we can make cities more biodiverse places and how we can engage and empower communities as part of that process. I’m currently working on projects in Kenya and the British Virgin Islands that aim to empower local actors to use basic soil ecology to assess soil health and engage the public in biodiversity conservation.
I’m also working on a project that aims to understand how to make environmental science more inclusive. I’m really looking forward to teaching the wide range of students in FET about healthy urban environments and to meet and work with colleagues with an interest in making better, healthier places. I’m also mother to a feisty two-year-old; I enjoy running, especially in hilly places (Portsmouth is SO flat!); and I’m hoping that by moving Westwards I can reconnect with my Welsh roots! I look forward to meeting everyone in the next few months.
Amir Gohar
I am a senior lecturer of urban planning practices. Prior to joining UWE Bristol, I taught at University of Huddersfield, UC Berkeley, SFSU, Kansas State, Geneva Institute for Graduate study, and University of Geneva. Before teaching I worked for two decades with municipal governments, research institutes, international development agencies, private sector firms and local community organizations. I have worked extensively in public space in congested cities, coastal settlements, dense urban forms, and historic urban centers across the Middle East and Africa. My doctoral work at Berkeley focused on understanding coastal development and its direct & relative impact on the residents and the environment.
I obtained degrees in urban planning from Cairo, a Master in Urban design from Oxford Brookes, and a diploma in Land Management from Erasmus University.
Ijeoma Jane Emeghe
I am an early career researcher and educator in Real Estate and Planning. I aim to be a well-published researcher in real estate and the urban environment across the following themes and subthemes – well-being and social valuation, sustainability, planning in the urban environment, mainstream technologies, and education. Further, I have undertaken some collaborative research in real estate, well-being, planning and the urban environment. I look forward to teaching a range of our students in Architecture and Built Environment. I hold an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).
I am a great team’s person, communicator, and honing my leadership skills and very excited to be part of the Elevate Leadership Programme.