Contact
Biography
Alistair is a Research Fellow in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, working on the VAX-TRUST project with Professor Pru Hobson-West, aiming to provide tools and support for healthcare professionals who encounter vaccine hesitant individuals.
From June 2020 to June 2021, Alistair worked on the Animal Research Nexus Prgramme with Dr Pru Hobson-West. His research focused on the role of Named Veterinary Surgeons, aiming to better understand how veterinarians in this role navigate multiple professional accountabilities, societal expectations, and the veterinary profession itself.
Alistair holds a PhD and MSc in Human Geography and a first class BSc in Geography all from the University of Bristol.
Alistair's ESRC-funded PhD at the University of Bristol examined pet owners' beliefs and behaviours around antibiotic stewardship. During his PhD Alistair also undertook placements at the House of Lords Library as an ESRC/POST Fellow and the National Assembly for Wales Research Service as an RCUK Policy Intern, writing a briefing in 2018 for the House of Lords Library on the impact of Brexit on how the UK addresses antimicrobial resistance.
Since 2020, Alistair has been a member of the Royal Geographical Society's Geographies of Health and Wellbeing Research Group committee.
Expertise Summary
Alistair is a social scientist with experience using a variety of social research methods. Through his postgraduate research Alistair has developed experience with qualitative and cognitive interviewing, questionnaire and survey design, and statistical analyses. Through commissioned work, Alistair has developed experience with focus group research.
Teaching Summary
Alistair has experience teaching qualitative and quantitative methods, and topics across human geography including political geography, science and technology studies, and more-than-human geographies.
Research Summary
Alistair's research primarily focuses on health topics including vaccine hesitancy, antibiotic stewardship, and interspecies health. Currently, Alistair is working on the VAX-TRUST project with Dr… read more
Selected Publications
Current Research
Alistair's research primarily focuses on health topics including vaccine hesitancy, antibiotic stewardship, and interspecies health. Currently, Alistair is working on the VAX-TRUST project with Dr Pru Hobson-West, aiming to provide tools and support for healthcare professionals who encounter vaccine hesitant individuals.
Past Research
Previously, Alistair worked on the Animal Research Nexus Programme with Dr Pru Hobson-West to examine the role of Named Veterinary Surgeons in animal research laboratories.
Alistair's doctoral research examined social attitudes around antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance, with a specific focus on the experiences of pet owners in the parallel contexts of their own health and their pets' health. From this research, Alistair has so far published two peer-reviewed articles using secondary survey data analysed with regression and model-averaging techniques.
Future Research
Alistair was recently awarded a Royal Geographical Society Small Research Grant to examine the geography of vaccine hesitancy and public attitudes around antibiotic stewardship in Britain using a geocoded survey dataset in a secure data enclave.
Other ongoing research projects include:
- Examining associations between attitudes towards vaccination and knowledge about antibiotic use.
- Variation in respondent cooperation to international political surveys across time and space.