Miss Mair L.H. Thomas BA, MSc
Postgraduate Researcher
My passion for Geography has been longstanding and having undertaken my undergraduate and masters research at the University of Southampton, I have thrived and developed my current research interests in resource availability and its implications to global health. It is now, with the opportunities provided throughout my PhD, that I am pursuing this interest in the context of Africa, with a specific focus on drinking-water availability across the region and most notably in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana.
Needless to say, my geographical interests thrived thanks to the opportunities provided throughout my undergraduate degree. In 2017 I received my degree in Human Geography from the University of Southampton, and it was during these 3 years that I found my love for Health Geography in particular, especially in the developing world context. This intrigue was further developed through my dissertation which explored the implications of water-schemes, such as dams and irrigation schemes, on malaria eradication in Swaziland.
Having landed myself a 4 year South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership (SCDTP) Award in 2017, I began my MSc in Social Research Methods with a focus in Human Geography. It was during this year that I undertook intensive skills based training in order to prepare myself for the impending PhD. These skills were then put into practice throughout my dissertation which focused on ‘Treatment-seeking Behaviour and Under-5 Child Mortality in Mali and Uganda’.
Currently I am continuing my academic pursuit and undertaking my PhD having begun in 2018. While my research is still heavily focused on the African context, I have moved towards investigating resource availability, in particular drinking-water. It is hoped that I while develop my project to include a health element such as drinking water availability in healthcare facilities and the subsequent effects to health of poor availability.