Alastair Munro

Teaching Associate in Human Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences

Personal Details
Publications

Contact

workRoom A33 Sir Clive Granger Building
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RD
UK
Alastair.Munro2@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Alastair is a human geographer with teaching and research expertise in medical, health, cultural, historical, and quantitative geographies, holding an ESRC-funded PhD from the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham. Currently, the individual holds the position of Teaching Associate at the School of Geography within the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Alastair's research primarily focuses on historical medical geographies. Specifically, they have focused on unravelling the intricate spatial patterns and long-standing prevalence of childhood infections within local populations in mid-20^th century England and Wales. Their work delves into the impact of geographical connectivity, dispersion, and isolation on the persistence of diseases. Furthermore, they explore the spatial consequences of vaccination on the dynamics of childhood infections at a regional scale. To support their research, rigorous quantitative spatial analysis is employed, making extensive use of statistical datasets obtained through archival research and the digitisation of historical public health records.

Alastair has experience working beyond the confines of academia, working on social research for Irish in Britain, an organisation dedicated to the welfare, support, and advocacy of the Irish community living in the UK. They were selected to be part of a research team commissioned to conduct a comprehensive quantitative assessment of Census 2021 data. This project aims to offer a comprehensive perspective on the Irish community and constituency demographics throughout Britain, shedding light on developments within the Irish community since the 2011 census. Their responsibilities within this project encompass geographical analysis and the creation of informative maps based on Census statistics, with a specific focus on aspects such as ethnicity, national identity, and aging trends.

Furthermore, Alastair contributed to an analysis of the H5N1 Avian Influenza outbreak in 2021-22, collaborating with the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science and the School of English. This research investigates the understanding and responses of small-scale poultry keepers to governmental directives aimed at controlling HPAI exposure and transmission. Their approach utilises a multi-scale behavior change model to identify barriers to compliance with HPAI-related regulations and provides practical recommendations for enhancing biosecurity measures in poultry-keeping settings.