New appointments to Professorships and Associate Professorships

Congratulations to the latest round of colleagues who have been successful at the recent Higher Academic Awards Committee.

Dr Ben Calvert, Vice-Chancellor, said: "Becoming an Associate Professor and Professor is huge achievement and marks significant and sustained effort which is recognised by independent expert reviewers as meeting the required standards. It is such a pleasure to read the applications as they come to the Committee for review – the range of work and impact these individuals have within and outside of USW is impressive. Congratulations to all of our new Associate Professors and Professors.” 

Duncan Pirrie has been made Professor of Geology (Research and Development)

Professor Duncan Pirrie’s background is as a sedimentary geologist.. His interests are very wide ranging, from understanding fundamental geological processes which shape our planet, through to understanding how we can use our natural resources for the benefit of society in as sustainable way as possible  

His current research projects are linked to geothermal (and carbon capture and storage) wells, and battery mineral resources, with recent research focusing on the provenance of the stones of Stonehenge and construction materials in Hadrian’s Wall.  

Professor Pirrie is one of a very small group of forensic geologists in the UK. His research in this area led to his recognition as an expert witness by the UK National Crime Agency and invitations to join UK Home Office and USA working groups in this field. His book A Guide to Forensic Geology follows international case work experiences and research on homicide graves, burials associated with serious and organised crime and counter terrorism.   

He said: “Much of my work has been about provenance – the scientific understanding of where something has come from. This might be understanding the source of an ancient sediment, but also where raw materials were sourced from for iconic structures such as Stonehenge and Hadrian’s Wall. Research should be about exploring the unknown. It’s fantastically exciting as you just don’t know what you will find – it’s the same excitement as looking over the next mountain range.”  

Professor Pirrie is currently Head of Research for the Faculty of Computing, Engineering, and Science and the course leader for the MSc Advanced Applied Field Geoscience.

Jenny Maher has been made Associate Professor of Criminology (Research and Development)

Dr Jenny Maher works in the fields of criminology and criminal justice, with contributions to knowledge in youth violence and victimisation, animal abuse and environmental crimes. 

Working alongside scholars from other disciplines, including the social and physical sciences and humanities, Dr Maher has worked to increase understanding and awareness of animal abuse in criminology. 

She said: “This focus is essential, foremost for the sake of our fellow creatures, also because of the tremendous damage that animal use and abuse inflict on the environment we depend upon, and the implications in the relationship between animal abuse and other forms of crime and violence.” 

Notably, she has collaborated with the UN and UK government on UK Wildlife and Forest Crime Analytic Toolkit Report, the European Union EFFACE project on environmental crime, the  European Commission report on the illegal wildlife trade, the RSPCA to evaluate the use and abuse of animals, including ‘status dogs’ in youth violence; authored a report on the illegal puppy trade for the Scottish Parliament and DEFRA and provided evidence to the Government’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee’s on the subject of pet smuggling.  

Dr Maher’s publications include: The Palgrave Handbook of Social Harm; Routledge International Handbook of Green Criminology; The Palgrave International Handbook of Animal Abuse Studies. She is the Vice President for Council for Wales of Voluntary Youth Services.  

Dr Maher is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the Faculty of Life Sciences and Education.

Rebecca Williams has been made Associate Professor of Media Audiences and Participatory Cultures (Research and Development)

As a cultural theorist, Dr Rebecca Williams’ research interests coalesce around media audiences and fan cultures, mediated places and spaces and media tourism, self-identity and self-narrative. She is widely credited for developing the field of fan studies, and has an international reputation as a scholar in this area.   

Dr Williams is the author of A Fan Studies Primer; Theme Park Fandom: Spatial Transmedia, Materiality and Participatory Cultures; Post-Object Fandom and editor of Torchwood Declassified and Everybody Hurts. Her work has been published in journals such as Celebrity Studies, European Journal of Cultural Studies, Continuum, Participations, Popular Communication, and Cinema Journal.  

Dr Williams said: “My goal is to continue to play an ongoing role in the advancement of fan studies, and develop a new emergent research area for the Faculty in Transmedia Tourism.”  

Dr Williams is a Senior Lecturer in Communication, Cultural and Media Studies in the Faculty of Creative Industries.

Emily Underwood-Lee has been made Professor of Performance Studies

Professor Emily Underwood-Lee is researcher at the George Ewart Evans Centre for Storytelling at the University of South Wales. Her research focuses on feminist performance, autobiographical performance, and narrative in performance. Emily has a particular interest in performance and the maternal, gender-based violence, and storytelling in health. She is principal investigator on the AHRC funded Performance and the Maternal project and co- created the Kicking Up Our Heels project at Great Ormond Street Hospital commissioned by GOSH Arts.   

She co-convenes the Storytelling for Health conference and sits on the steering group of both the Wales Arts Health and Wellbeing Network (WAHWN) and the WISERD Wellbeing Network. She is co-chair of the Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Research Network for Wales.   

Recent publications include ‘On the Maternal’ Performance Research  (22:4), ‘Storytelling for Health’ Storytelling, Self, Society (15:1), the co-authored book Maternal Performance: Feminist Relations Palgrave (2021) with Lena Šimić, and the forthcoming co-edited collection Mothering: Processes, Practices and Performances Routledge (2022), also with Šimić. Her performances include Kicking Up Our Heels (2019), Manifesto for Maternal Performance (Art)! 2016 (2016), Titillation (2012), Patience (2009), and Ode to Morten Harket (2007).  

Professor Underwood-Lee said: “In my research, I am concerned with understanding both the stories that we tell about ourselves and how things can change when we listen to the stories of others with genuine care. Attending to people’s experiences can create understanding, community, solidarity, and compassion, which in turn might lead to practices and policies that are responsive and democratic.”