Sustainable and Resilient Cities: Liverpool Abigail O'Connor

As students we’re all too aware of the fractious relationship that can develop with writing when doing a PhD. How difficult it can be to just ‘get writing’ and the fear of the blank page is something we have spoken about with PhD friends near and far. Something which may have become much more difficult in the past year.

So, inspired by Ronnie’s recent Methods North West workshop ‘Writing methods beyond the academy’, this episode is Abi talking to Ronnie about all things related to writing, what he’s learnt in his career as a writer – and how this helps him with his PhD. We talk through trying to make sense of academic writing, walking to get you writing, writing with friends and much more, in the hope that Ronnie’s expertise can help move even more of us move away from the blank page!

We refer to Ronnie’s paper throughout the episode, a version of which can be found here on his blog. And Ronnie’s highly recommended book if you want to read more about writing for pleasure is "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg.

Today Abi and Ronnie are joined by fellow SSPC PGR student Liam Markey. Liam’s PhD is a collaborate project with the British Library, which looks to chronicle the last  100 years of British ‘military victimhood’ following the First World War, through both print and digital cultural artefacts in the British Library collection.

Liam’s research involved monthly visits to the British Library in London to access hard copies of datasets, which inevitably changed as a result of the initial lockdown in March and on-going restrictions since. In this episode we talk through the difficulties this has caused Liam in terms of his academic work and how he’s adapted to these changes.

Later in the episode we open up a discussion around the financial implications of the COVID19 pandemic, first through reference to Liam’s experience before talking about the difficulties currently faced by PhD students more widely, and the ongoing issues around funding.2

Read Liam’s latest writing for the British Library here or you can find out more about his research via his blog. Liam can be contacted via email Liam.markey@liverpool.ac.uk or Twitter: @Liam_Markey94.

Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved with the podcast! Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: aoconnor@liverpool.ac.uk & Ronnie @asenseofplace1 or R.D.Hughes@liv.ac.uk

*This episode was recorded in early December 2020, before the third national lockdown*

Today Abi & Ronnie talk to Patrick Ballantyne, a PhD student in the Geographic Data Science Lab, based in the Department of Geography & Planning. Pat’s research, centred around Retail Geography, employs methods both quantitative and spatial in nature, which come under the umbrella of 'Geographic Data Science'. The primary aim of his PhD is to gain a deeper understanding of the geography of retail centre space, demonstrating how such an understanding can be used to  respond to external pressures in the retail sector, such as changing consumer behaviours and the growth of online shopping.

When lockdown began in March, Pat’s access to the shared laboratory – and therefore his research – became restricted. He discusses how he’s adjusted to these challenges, giving an overview of his experience of working from home, whilst also highlighting  the opportunities COVID-19 has presented in terms of consumer data and changing research agendas.

You can get in touch with Pat via email P.J.Ballantyne@liverpool.ac.uk or via Twitter @pj_ballantyne

For code and updates on his projects visit: https://github.com/patrickballantyne

Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved in upcoming episodes, we’d love to hear from you about life as a PhD student, your research, new projects you’re involved in or changes to your work resulting from COVID19 (this list is not exhaustive!) Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: aoconnor@liverpool.ac.uk & Ronnie @asenseofplace1or R.D.Hughes@liv.ac.uk

In Part 2 of our conversation with Adele & Leah, we gave them the opportunity to ask us any questions they have about life as a PhD students, things we wish we’d have known when we started, tips for staying on top of our workloads and combatting loneliness – amongst much more!

You can contact Adele via hsamoor3@student.liverpool.ac.uk and Leah via Leah.Molyneux@liverpool.ac.uk

Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved in upcoming episodes, we’d love to hear from you about life as a PhD student, your research, new projects you’re involved in or changes to your work resulting from COVID19 (this list is not exhaustive!) Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: aoconnor@liverpool.ac.uk & Ronnie @asenseofplace1or R.D.Hughes@liv.ac.uk

In this episode Abi and Ronnie are joined by Adele and Leah, two CASE PhD students in the department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology. Adele’s research is a feminist exploration of contraception and reproductive rights, in collaboration with a local clinic in Liverpool. Leah’s work is a ethnographic study of discretion, working with the College of Policing.

Both Adele & Leah started their studentships in October, 2020 – so in this episode we talk to them about how they’ve found their first few months, whether they’ve had to make any methodological changes to their research already, and how they’re adapting to writing and working from home. You can get in touch with them via email hsamoor3@student.liverpool.ac.uk // Leah.Molyneux@liverpool.ac.uk

Part two of this episode will be released 17th December 2020!

Gavin Daly, a PhD student at the Heseltine Institute, joins Abi & Ronnie in today’s episode. Gavin currently works as a Senior Project Expert at the European Spatial Planning Observatory Network. His research explores the role that alternative planning discourses can have in the context of global environmental challenges, seeking to identify the place that grass-roots community movements can play in institutional change.

In the episode we discuss how he came to be involved in this research, the influence that his previous career in planning has on his work, and how the crises of the last decade (including the financial crash of 2008/9, austerity and the COVID19 pandemic) make visible some of the detrimental consequences that capital-led growth projects have on urban spaces and their populations.

You can read some of Gavin’s recent work here https://irelandafternama.wordpress.com/?s=Gavin+Daly and you can contact him via Twitter: @gavinjdaly or via email: gdaly@liverpool.ac.uk

Get in touch with us if you'd like to be involved! Contact Abi via Twitter: @abioconnor_ or email: aoconnor@liverpool.ac.uk & Ronnie @asenseofplace1or R.D.Hughes@liv.ac.uk