Community Involvement & Citizen Science

Pedestrian Cork Group

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Since October 2019, I have been a member of the Pedestrian Cork Steering group, an advocacy group that is working towards a more accessible, walkable and supportive outdoor environment. The group developed a survey to map the experiences and needs of pedestrians in Cork.

In the first half of 2020, I led a survey of pedestrian experiences with Pedestrian Cork. The main findings are outlined in the Pedestrian Cork Survey 2020 Report. The survey was completed by 1,219 Cork citizens, and the report has been adopted by Cork City Council as informing document for the Cork City Development Plan 2022-2028.

I always welcome opportunities to contribute to initiatives in my community related to environment and wellbeing. In March 2021, during a prolonged lockdown in Ireland, I took part as a volunteer in a citizen science project to rank green spaces in Cork City. You can read more about the project here.

 

Science Communication

Invited contributions

Date	Contribution	Organiser
November 2021	Invited Talk “Putting wellbeing in place? Considerations about place-based happiness and equity from a psychosocial perspective“	Wellbeing in Policy Seminar Series – Centre for Urban Wellbeing, University of Birmingham
October 2021	Panellist in the Public Talk “Air Quality in Cork“	UCC Community Week
August 2021	Academic contribution to “A crisis in climate cognition, explained“	Green News.ie
March 2021	Invited Talk “From healthy cities to happy cities? Reflections on the psychosocial benefits of active travel“	Transport and Mobility Forum Cork. Mix your Mode webinar 2021
November 2019	Academic contribution to “The Psychologist Guide to… Retirement“	British Psychological Society

 

Famelab Ireland 2017

Second prize at the Regional Munster Heat where I used my moka pot to describe the concept of “affordances” and their application to design user-friendly environments (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u00tf-yoIwQ) , and qualification for the National Final where I talked about how learning helps the brain to age slower (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-QFtLinmNU)

 

University College Cork Doctoral Showcase (June 2015)

Second prize in the “Three Minutes Thesis” section. Presentation title: “It Takes Two to Tango; Person-Environoment Interactions Influence Cognitive Ageing”
https://tinyurl.com/nx8f3o6

 

 

 

Cork Culture Night (2014-17)

I have been actively involved in the annual Irish Culture Night organised by the School of Applied Psychology, UCC, since 2014, engaging the public in my research work and in “Brain Games” activities to learn about perception and cognitive processes.