Research and the COVID-19 Crisis

Research and the COVID-19 crisis-Online speed lectures and a panel discussion

Join us for a new series of ONLINE speed lectures with leading DMU scholars, as part of an ongoing series of lectures to mark National Awareness Days.  The lectures will reflect on how research can help communities deal with the COVID-19 crisis. 5 June marks World Environment Day and the event will focus on COVID-19 and the environment.

This new series will be launched by Professor David Mba, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise). The event will feature 10 minute lectures on the effects of COVID-19 on environmental issues regarding cities, transport, aviation and recycling, followed by a panel discussion and questions. The speakers and titles of talks are as follows:

• Cities before and after COVID-19- Issues and challenges (Dr Alona Martinez Perez)
• Plastic pollution due to COVID-19: Challenges and opportunities (Dr Karthikeyan Kandan).  This talk will present the challenges to tackle plastic pollution as a result of PPE’s and also highlight potential avenues for research.
• Aviation after COVID-19 (Professor Lucy Budd)
• Options for sustainable mobility post- COVID (Professor Stephen Ison)

 Speaker biographies

 Dr Alona Martinez Perez

Dr Alona Martinez Perez is a Senior Lecturer in the Leicester School of Architecture, De Montfort University, Leicester. Originally from Spain (Bilbao, Basque Country) and, as a trained architect in England and Scotland she holds qualifications in both architecture and urban design. Dr Perez completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield with a scholarship award on the subject of “The Architecture of the Periphery” looking at the theory of the periphery in the European city, with a case study in Madrid. She won the PhD Conference bid for AHRA (Architecture and Humanities Research Association) at Plymouth University and has presented over 20 papers and conferences on peripheral issues. Dr Perez’s talk will highlight the issues and challenges faced by cities before, and following, the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Dr Karthikeyan Kandan

Dr Karthikeyan Kandan is an emerging early-career researcher with a focus on the designing materials/structure that protect personal and infrastructures. The COVID-19 crisis demanded an unpreceded amount of plastic to manufacture Personal Protective Equipment’s (PPE’s) for key workers and general public, and the single-use contaminated PPE’s are emerging as another threat to environment. Dr Kandan’s talk will present the challenges to tackle the plastic pollution as a result of PPE’s and also highlight potential avenues for research.

Professor Lucy Budd

Lucy Budd is a Professor of Air Transport Management in the Faculty of Business and Law at De Montfort University, Leicester. She is interested in the intersections between people, places and policy. Professor Budd has over 100 publications in the area of aviation and transport; she sits on the editorial boards of three transport journals and is also, Co-Editor of Research in Transportation Business and Management (Elsevier). Lucy’s talk will explore the aviation industry following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Stephen Ison

Stephen Ison is a Professor of Air Transport Policy at De Montfort University, Leicester. He has a research interest in issues relating to transport and sustainability, and has authored, co-authored and edited a number of books including the following: The Implementation and Effectiveness of Transport Demand Management Measures: An International Perspective (Ashgate 2008), Environmental Policies and Issues, (Financial Times/Prentice Hall 2002), PARKING: ISSUES AND POLICIES (EMERALD 2014) AND Air Transport Management: An International Perspective (Routledge 2020). Professor Ison is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Research in Transportation Business and Management (Elsevier) and Associate Editor of the Journal of Transportation Planning and Technology (Taylor and Francis). He is also the Co-Chair of the World Conference on Transport Research Society Special Interest Group (SIG G3) Urban Transport Planning and Policy. Stephen’s talk will look at options for sustainable mobility following the COVID-19 pandemic.