Becky Sale

Profile

I am in the second year of my PhD, funded by EPSRC, in the Sustainability Research Institute at the School of Earth and Environment.

In my research, I am interested in understanding how families with children manage and experience the indoor ‘air-energy nexus’ when living in energy poverty. The ‘air-energy nexus’ was termed by Bouzarovski and Robinson (2022) and refers to the interactions that involve the processing or use of air for energy services, or interactions that include the consumption or transformation of energy for atmospheric services. Within the home, processes and practices at the air-energy nexus might include space heating using radiators, space cooling using air conditioning, the removal of pollutants using ventilation, or the influence of cooking on indoor air quality. Households living in energy poverty might struggle to manage the ‘air-energy nexus’ in their homes. For example, energy-poor households might find it more difficult to adequately ventilate while also maintaining heat in the home. Living in energy poverty or with poor indoor air quality can have physical and psychological impacts, particularly for children, yet children’s experiences are often under-researched in both energy poverty and indoor air quality work. Therefore, I am particularly interested in understanding how children and parents experience and manage the indoor air-energy nexus, and I plan to work with children using creative and participatory methods. My research also explores how social relations with family, friends, communities and personal identity shape the experience of the air-energy nexus in the home. 

Before this PhD, I studied a Masters in Sustainable Cities at the University of Leeds. My Masters thesis explored the recruitment of households living in energy poverty for fuel poverty research, where I investigated the barriers and challenges to recruitment and identified the most appropriate methods for research. I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Exeter, achieving a first in BSc Geography with Applied GIS.

Research interests

• Energy poverty
• Indoor air quality
• Indoor environments
• Social practices
• Social relations
• Families and children
• Creative methods

Qualifications

• MSc Sustainable Cities (Distinction)
• BSc Geography with Applied GIS (First Class)

Research groups and institutes

• Social and Political Dimensions of Sustainability