Profile
Nick is a social researcher and technical expert with over 20 years of experience in the sustainable energy field, specialising in behavioural and attitudinal research and the social dimensions of energy consumption and sustainability. He is currently contracted to work 100% on the LEO project which runs until July 2020 and is funded under the government's Prospering from the Energy Revolution (PFER) programme.
Nick has a DPhil from the University of Oxford awarded in 1998. His research, conducted with the Environmental Change Institute, explored the sociology and psychology of domestic energy efficiency and retrofit, developing and testing a model to predict adoption of energy efficient domestic equipment (lighting, white goods) and sustainable behaviours and practices.
Whilst some of his career has been spent in academia, most of it has been spent working in either the private sector, engaging with industrial or commercial clients, or in the charitable sector working with the public sector and local communities. However, the focus throughout has involved researching and facilitating the transition to a sustainable society.
Nick is an experienced technical consultant, having delivered numerous energy and environmental audits for public and private sector clients (assessing both technical and behavioural data), performing carbon footprints of organisations and their products and implementing environmental management systems.
Most recently, he has been involved in a series of projects exploring all things "smart" in households, offices and schools, researching how sensed energy, temperature and other data can be used in changing energy culture and in behavioural change interventions. This has led to his current involvement in the LEO project which aims to demonstrate transformative smart local energy systems (SLES) in Oxfordshire. He is responsible for researching the socio-technical characteristics of energy systems which foster SLES and allow them to flourish.
Nick is also interested in getting hands on with energy efficient retrofit. He is trained in thermal imaging and has spent the last 4 years delivering thermal imaging surveys as part of Bristol's CHEESE project. He's also recently completed level 2 diplomas in site carpentry and electrical installation at the City of Bristol Technical College (one-year duration part time courses) with a view to applying these skills on retrofit and construction projects in his own and other's homes.