The people behind the project

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Dominique Moran

Professor of Carceral Geography at the University of Birmingham. Her research has explored the relationship between prison design and wellbeing, in particular the beneficial effects of green spaces and nature contact in prison. She has advised on custodial design in contexts as diverse as the UK, Netherlands, Colombia and New Zealand.

CO-INVESTIGATOR

Jon Sadler

Jon Sadler is Professor of Biogeography at the University of Birmingham. A biogeographer and ecologist whose work is highly interdisciplinary, Jon’s research bisects biogeography, ecology and urban design and uses approaches that combine detailed field studies, field and laboratory experimentation, and social science to examine the links between environmental variability and human responses. He has worked with government, and international groups, and acted as Trustee of two UK invertebrate conservation charities. His longstanding focus on urban biodiversity has generated new knowledge and conservation insight cutting across species, ecological functional responses to urbanisation, ecological service outcomes, people-nature interactions, habitat design and planning for city biodiversity.

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Emma Widdop

In addition to her position on the Design Exchange Partnership at the University of Birmingham, Emma Widdop is a doctoral researcher, chartered Landscape Architect, and Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Sustainable Urbanism at Birmingham City University, and a member of the Design Exchange Partnership at the University of Birmingham.

With a background in art, architecture, landscape, and urban design, her work bridges disciplines to deliver human-centric design. She has over a decade of experience delivering projects across the UK in the healthcare, education, and heritage sectors.

Her PhD design enquiry explores the space semantics unique to mass intermodal transit hubs in urban cores, and spans the scales from intimate human interaction to region-wide strategy and policy. She has expertise in exploring how the landscape can support wellbeing and enhance biodiversity within prison environments.