Staff Profile

Background

I am a Post Doctoral Research Associate in the Environmental Engineering group, working on an EPSRC funded project Decentralised Water Technologies. My current work is centred on issues of water and wastewater governance and policy analysis, with a specific focus on the provision of services in rural and island communities.

Before starting this role, I completed my EngD at the University of Exeter as part of the STREAM IDC programme, which was sponsored by Northumbrian Water. Here, my research was concerned with the operationalisation of resilience within the UK water sector, with a specific focus on how existing resilience theory can be translated into tangible actions at the operational level. 

Prior to this, I spent time working in the UK water sector before moving on to work as part of the Europe and Central Asia Climate and Environment team for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, where I was based in Tirana, Albania. 

Qualifications

EngD Water Engineering, 2022, University of Exeter 

MSc Disaster Management and Sustainable Development, 2016, Northumbria University

BSc Geography and Environmental Management, 2013, Northumbria University 

Research Interests

Wider research interests include but are not limited to:

• Water and wastewater governance
• Water and wastewater policy analysis
• Water scarcity and availability
• Rural provision of services
• Systems management
• Operational resilience
• Emergency management and response.

Current Research Projects

"Taps Aff!" Voicing experiences of water scarcity in rural Scotland, (Sept 2023 - Sept 2024), PI.

ESRC ACCESS Flex Fund project working with Scottish rural communities to voice their experiences of water scarcity through the use of social science methods.

Decentralised Water Technologies (Nov 2021- present), Research Associate.

The Decentralised Water Technologies grant aims to develop off-grid water and wastewater biological treatment systems. However, exploitation and commercialisation of novel off-grid treatment technologies is not straightforward. As part of Theme Three: Governance analysis and reform, we will map the legal, policy and institutional landscape governing the water industry and water services in the UK. Whilst identifying the specific barriers to implementation of off-grid technologies, and providing pathways to break down these barriers.

This work is interested in approaching the issue of existing decentralised systems in Scotland from a perspective of wider rural policy.

• Articles

  • Lawson E, Robbie J, Sloan WT, Amezaga J. Challenges and opportunities for decentralised water technologies in Scotland. Water Policy 2024, 26(2), 189-205.
  • Lawson E, Bunney S, Cotterill S, Farmani R, Melville-Shreeve P, Butler D. COVID-19 and the UK water sector: Exploring organisational responses through a resilience framework. Water and Environment Journal 2022, 36(1), 161-171.
  • Bunney S, Lawson E, Cotterill S, Butler D. Water Resource Management: Moving from Single Risk-Based Management to Resilience to Multiple Stressors. Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8609.
  • Farmani R, Dalton J, Charalambous B, Lawson E, Bunney S, Cotterill S. Intermittent water supply systems and their resilience to COVID-19: IWA IWS SG survey. AQUA Water Infrastructure, Ecosystems and Society 2021, 70(4), 507-520.
  • Cotterill S, Bunney S, Lawson E, Chisholm A, Farmani R, Melville-Shreeve P. COVID-19 and the water sector; understanding impact preparedness and resilience in the UK through a sector wide survey. Water and Environment Journal 2020, 34(4), 715-728.
  • Rodriguez M, Lawson R, Butler D. A study of the Resilience Analysis Grid method and its applicability to the water sector in England and Wales. Water and Environment Journal 2020, 34(4), 623-633.
  • Lawson E, Farmani R, Woodley E, Butler D. A Resilient and Sustainable Water Sector; Barriers to the Operationalisation of Resilience. Sustainability 2020, 12(5), 1797.