Teaching
Contributes to Undergraduate and Postgraduate teaching programmes:
- CL446 Water and Environmental Management
- CL413 Solid Waste Management
- CL904 Waste Management and Landfill Design
- CL913 Public Health Studies
- EV921 Water and Environmental Management
Research interests
Ecology of Legionella species in compost environments - Legionnaires’ disease is a severe pneumonia caused by Legionella, usually Legionella pneumophila associated with contaminated aerosols from water systems, e.g. air conditioning, water cooling towers. However, in recent years several cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Scotland, caused by Legionella longbeachae have been linked to compost; most recently 4 cases occurring in Lothian have been reported in the media. The ecology of these organisms within compost is largely unknown. Studies have included work on: the presence of Legionella species in compost commercially available in the UK; the effect of greenhouse storage on Legionella survival in compost; the influence of free-living amoeba, particularly Acanthamoeba species, on Legionella ecology. See See Legionella spp. in UK composts – a potential public health issue
Scotland Chikhwawa Health Initiative – Funding through the Scottish Government International Development fund (2013-2016) is enabling the implementation of a Healthy Settings Programme in the Chikwawa district of Malawi. Healthy Settings aims to achieve healthy communities by not only addressing access to curative health services, but concentrating on the environmental, sociological and economic determinants for health in the home, school and work environments using a community led approach. The programme will be implemented in a cluster of 18 communities, 6 schools, 5 markets and a health centre in Chikhwawa to support the District Health Office to reduce risks to health in vulnerable communities. Community development through Healthy Settings has to come from the community itself and therefore the approach focuses on supporting and facilitating a community profiling process and the development of action plans by community members to give local solutions to health issues. In doing so we hope to ensure sustained change and improvement. For further information see an Overview of the Scotland Chikhwawa Health Initiative 2013 - 2016
Ocular infection - specifically keratitis caused by the free-living protozoa Acanthamoeba, and the association with contact lenses; much of this work has focused on newer generation silicone hydrogel lenses. Studies have included work on: The effect lens material has on Acanthamoebal attachement to contact lenses; the efficacy of contact lens disinfection solutions against Acanthamoeba; Potential new drugs for the treatment of ocular infection with Acanthamoeba; isolation and molecular typing of clinical and environmental isolates of Acanthamoeba.
Current Research Students
- Sandra Currie (primary supervisor) – Ecology of Legionella species in compost
- Sarah Rippon (secondary supervisor) - Measuring the Impact of Health Settings Approach in Malawi
- Neil Pratt (secondary supervisor) – Automated HACCP systems in small scale environments
- Ansley Kasambara (secondary supervisor) - Maternal Health Data Consitency and Management: A Longitudinal Study in Chikhwawa District
- Becky Laidlaw (second supervisor) - use of mHealth in health promotion programmes
Professional activities
- PhD viva external examiner
- Examiner
- 10/6/2021
- External Examiner for 2 MSc programmes at University of Salford
- Examiner
- 1/10/2019
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (External organisation)
- Member
- 2014
- Interviewed on Gardener's Question Time Radio 4
- Interviewee
- 25/10/2013
- Media reporting of Legionella research
- Interviewee
- 10/2013
- Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (External organisation)
- Member
- 16/9/2012
More professional activities
Projects
- Measurement and modelling of the health effects of exposure to air pollutants from the use of wood burning stoves in urban areas
- Beattie, Tara (Co-investigator) Beverland, Iain (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2026
- NIHR Global Health Research Group on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing
- Morse, Tracy (Principal Investigator) Beattie, Tara (Co-investigator) Davidson, Jennifer (Co-investigator) Henderson, Marion (Co-investigator) Morton, Alec (Co-investigator) Quinn, Neil (Co-investigator) Sosu, Edward (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2026
- Measurement and modelling of the health effects of exposure to air pollutants from the use of wood burning stoves in urban areas.
- Beattie, Tara (Principal Investigator) Beverland, Iain (Principal Investigator) Beattie, Tara (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2025
- Measurement and modelling of the health effects of exposure to air pollutants from the use of wood burning stoves in urban areas.
- Beattie, Tara (Principal Investigator) Beverland, Iain (Principal Investigator) Beattie, Tara (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2021 - 31-Jan-2025
- Impact of COVID-19 on health centre service delivery in urban and rural Malawi
- Beattie, Tara (Co-investigator) Morse, Tracy (Principal Investigator)
- 14-Jan-2020 - 31-Jan-2020
- Doctoral Training Partnership 2018-19 University of Strathclyde | Hope, Caitlin
- Beverland, Iain (Principal Investigator) Beattie, Tara (Co-investigator) Hope, Caitlin (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2019 - 01-Jan-2024
More projects
Address
Civil and Environmental Engineering
James Weir
James Weir
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