Staff profile for Julian Dobson, Senior Research Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University

I am a senior lecturer in Sustainable Construction and Climate Change. In addition to my research duties, I lecture specifically on issues of Energy, Buildings and integrated renewable energy systems, Climate Change, Sustainability in the Built Form and Environmental Management.

The current wildfires in the Mediterranean region are far more expansive than usual. Logically, they are a consequence of climate change – prolonged drier periods, increased air temperatures and the resultant stronger, warmer, drier winds.

Traffic-related fatalities are the eighth leading cause of death for people of all ages. Both because of the way they are driven and the mechanics inside them, electric vehicles could play an important role in making our roads safer.

Ella Kissi-Debrah died in London in February 2013, aged only nine years old, having been unwell with respiratory disease requiring multiple hospital admissions for several years.

Peatlands were once widespread throughout the UK but their place in history has now largely been forgotten. Most of the debate around using natural habitats to draw down carbon from the atmosphere concerns planting trees and reforestation, some ecologists argue that a far better solution lies in restoring the peatlands that people have spent centuries draining and destroying.

Green spaces in city neighbourhoods are critical for wellbeing. Policymakers know this, which is why they put local authorities under pressure to keep parks and green spaces open during lockdown. However, there is a large gap between what this research shows should be done to maximise the benefits of urban green space, and what is actually put in place in cities.

Sheffield Hallam University is partnering with Sheffield City Council to introduce a food waste trial scheme to better understand the process of household food disposal across selected areas of Sheffield.

Key figures from South Yorkshire visited Sheffield Hallam to mark the start of construction work on the first phase of University’s city campus development.

Improving climate literacy and youth employability in Africa is the aim of a new partnership.