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Will technology help or hinder ‘green’ behaviour?

Dr Niamh Murtagh

 
When?
Tuesday 27 March 2012, 16.00 to 17.00
Where?
35AC04
Open to:
Public, Staff, Students
Speaker:
Dr Niamh Murtagh
In discussions on mitigating climate change, technology is often suggested as a panacea. Humanity has developed technical innovations to improve its condition for the last 250 years, the argument runs, so we will innovate our way out of the current crisis. But some of the technical development in hand today assumes that we will engage with new technology and it will lead us to change our behaviour: Smart Meters are a case in point. On the REDUCE project here at the University of Surrey, our colleagues in Engineering are developing ‘very smart meters’: intelligent, sensing, learning energy monitors. In collaboration, the Environmental Psychology Research Group is investigating the socio-psychological factors which may influence acceptability and use of such technology, and its impact on pro-environmental behaviour. Niamh will present preliminary findings from a range of studies and outline plans for further studies on people and smart meter/smart grid technology.

Dr Niamh Murtagh
University of Surrey

Niamh is currently Research Fellow on the EPSRC-funded REDUCE programme which is exploring energy management behaviour in the home and workplace in relation to innovative monitoring technology. Prior to her role on REDUCE, Niamh was Research Fellow on RESOLVE, the ESRC-funded investigation into sustainable lifestyles. Her PhD, on the topic of voluntary career change, was completed at the University of Surrey. A common research interest through all of her work is that of behaviour change, with a particular interest in identity. She has found evidence for threatened identities as motivators of change in careers, and for threatened identities related to resistance to change in the area of transport. Her on-going research is exploring identities, self-determined motivation and other factors influencing change to more environmentally responsible behaviour.

Niamh's first degree was in Computer Science, from University College Dublin. She worked in software in a variety of industries in Ireland and the UK, including electricity and telecommunications, and has achieved Chartered Engineer and Chartered Information Technology Practitioner status. Alongside her roles as IT Strategy Manager and Systems Architect, she completed an MSc in Software Engineering at the University of Brighton.

Date:
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Time:

16.00 to 17.00


Where?
35AC04
Open to:
Public, Staff, Students
Speaker:
Dr Niamh Murtagh