Dr Andrew Maclaren

Biography

I am a Lecturer in Applied Health Sciences having been appointed in January 2023. My background is in Geography, where I graduated in Geography (BSc. Hons) from The University of Edinburgh in 2013, and also gained a Research Masters (MSc) degree in Human Geography (2014). I completed a fully funded PhD in Geography at the University of Aberdeen (2019), where I was also latterly a Teaching Fellow in Geography and Environment (2018-2020). My research explores culture and everyday life, in order to engage with social, economic and political changes affecting everyday spaces and places. I am particularly interested in qualitative and mixed-methods research as well as contemporary approaches to investigate people’s everyday experiences of spaces and places. Most recently I was a Research Fellow in the Health Services Research Unit (2020-2023) where my research interests aligned empirically to explore doctors decisions to live and work in rural locations, rural healthcare, and digital health inequalities.

2023-date, Lecturer in Applied Health Sciences, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, University of Aberdeen 

2020-2023, Research Fellow, Institute of Applied Health Sciences, Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen

2018-2019 & 2019-2020, Teaching Fellow, Department of Geography & Environment, University of Aberdeen

2014-2018, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Geography & Environment, University of Aberdeen

2013-2014, Tutor and Demonstrator, Geography, The University of Edinburgh

Prizes and Awards

2022 NHS Grampian R&D Conference Delegates’ Prize Winner, with the presentation ‘Remote and Rural healthcare: pilot study to investigate experiences, differences and changes to medical care for people living in remote and rural areas of Scotland.

2017 European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) Best Student Paper: With the paper titled ‘Affective Lives of Rural Ageing’. This paper was published by the Journal Sociologia Ruralis.

2017 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Rural Geography Specialty Group (RGSG) Best Student Presentation: With the paper presentation ‘More-than-Representational Knowledges of Rural Ageing’ delivered as part of the 'New Voices in Rural Geography' session at the AAG Annual Conference (April 2017), Boston, USA.

Research Overview

My research explores culture and everyday life, in order to engage with social, economic and political changes affecting everyday spaces and places. I am particularly interested in contemporary approaches, and considerations, of space and place.

Empirically, I am interested in everyday life in rural and urban spaces and places: how it is lived and experienced, but also how it is planned for, anticipated and imagined, to everyday materialities and specifically encounters and experiences of/with nationalism.

Current Projects

I am building on my interests and experience in researching rural spaces and places through a number of projects that foucs on the interpaly of rurality, health and place.

1. Through a Scottish Government funded Chief Scientist Office grant I am focussed on understanding the experiences, motivations and job preferences of generalist doctors in Scotland, particularly with regard to working in rural and remote areas. (Further details can be found here, with two papers published)
2. Building on this interest in rural healthcare provision I am a co-investigator on a project funded by the National Institute for Health Research on community-led initiatives to improve recruitment and retention of health professionals in remote and rural areas in the UK.
3. I am involved in two NHS Grampian Research and Development Endowment Grants. First, I am Principal investigator in a pilot study based in Grampian that considers the experiences, differences and changes to medical care for people living in remote and rural areas of Scotland.  Second, I am a co-investigator in a project looking to understand digital appointment inequalities in NHS Grampian by exploring digital exclusion and identifying solutions to address it in rural and urban communities.
4. I am a co-supervisor of Lucy Halamova who is undertaking a PhD funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust that is looking at communication and planning for future care needs for older people.
5. Learning & Teaching Enhancement Programme 22/23: I am involved in two programmes of reserach exploring students learning. One on 'students’ sense of community and developing key skills' & another on 'Intersectionality and incuslive practice in learning communities'.

Ongoing work

My own work has considered the experience of rural living, as well as contemporary approaches to rural research. More recently I have contributed three book chapters drawing on my expertise in rural studies that engages with contemporary approaches to rural gerontology (with Gavin Andrews, McMaster, Canada), the importance of older people’s contributions and civic engagement in Scotland (with Lorna Philip, Claire Wallace and Kryzs Adamczyk, all Aberdeen, UK) and one considering the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to current rural issues in the UK, and beyond (with Lorna Philip, Aberdeen, UK). Dr Philip and my work on COVID-19 and rural places has also been published in Geography Directions, part of the Royal Geographical Society with Institute of British Geographers.

My interest in nationalism, and political geographies more broadly, has involved an engagement with visual methodologies and approaches to material cultures. Empirically this has been through work on the Space Shuttle Mission Patches and wider engagement with the geographies of outer space.

More recently I have been working with Dan Sage (Loughborough) on exploring the proposed Spaceport in Sutherland, Scotland, and its intersections with rural development, rural landscapes, nationalism and UK economic strategy.

As an undergraduate and research masters student at The University of Edinburgh I engaged with urban geographies, and in particular my research masters project explored the contrasting imagined and lived spaces and places of the Leith Waterfront Redevelopment. 

Knowledge Exchange

Selected Invited Contributions

‘Remote and rural healthcare: pilot study to investigate experiences, differences and changes to medical care for people living in remote and rural areas’ Presentation to NHS Grampian R&D Conference. (Oct 2022), Aberdeen & Online: 2022 Delegates’ Prize Winner.

'Rural connections : Recruitment and retention of rural practice staff – what matters?' - Invited speaker as part of a Royal College of General Practitioners Rural Forum panel on recruitment and retention of remote and rural GPs, (Jan 2022), Online

‘Recruitment and retention of staff in remote and rural places: perspectives from Scotland’- Invited presentation with Louise Locock to Health Education England – Remote, Rural, Coastal and Small Training Locations group (Jan, 2022), Online

‘Posthumanist geography and rural ageing'- Invited speaker for panel  as part of the Aging Otherwise series at Concordia University and by Trent's Centre for Aging & Society organised by Prof Stephen Katz (Trent University), (Nov 2021), online

'NHS Scotland Regional workforce planning internal workshop' - Workshops explored recruitment, retention, and succession planning, invited attendee, Three Workshops (June 2021), Online

‘Enhancing recruitment and retention of rural doctors in Scotland’ – Invited presentation to the North of Scotland Workforce Learning Network (May, 2021), Online

‘Relational Ruralities: Exploring geo-historicity through the lives of older people’ – Paper presentation as part of the Ninth Quadrennial Conference of British, Canadian, and [US] American Rural Geographers (July 2019), Vermont, USA [This conference is one week and is limited to only 15 people from each country].

Selected Contributions

'‘From 'recruitment' and 'retention' to 'moving' and 'staying': Exploring doctors’ decisions to work in remote and rural locations’ Presentation as part of the NHS Highland RD&I Annual Conference (Nov, 2022)

‘Recruitment and retention of doctors in rural Scotland’ Poster presentation as part of the NHS Highland RD&I Annual Conference (Nov, 2022)

‘Rural migration during the COVID-19 pandemic: moving and staying?’ Paper to be presented with Keith Halfacree (Swansea University) as part of the ‘People moving to the countryside: resurgent again in COVID-19 times… but are they staying?’ session, sponsored by the Rural Geography Research Group, at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference (September 2022), Newcastle/Online

‘Recruitment and retention of doctors in rural Scotland’ Poster presentation as part of the Rethinking Remote Conference (April, 2022), Aviemore, UK

‘Non-representational geographies: contemporary approaches, methods and practices’ – Paper to be presented with Amy C. Barron (The University of Manchester) presented as part of ‘Non-representational geographies: approaches, methods and practices’ session, sponsored by the History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group, at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference (September 2021), London/Online

‘Enhancing recruitment and retention of rural doctors in Scotland’ – Paper presented as part of the Health Services Research UK Conference (July 2021), Online

‘Relational Ruralities: Exploring geo-historicity through the lives of older people’ - Paper contribution as part of the Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network (TARRN) Annual Meeting (April, 2019), Aberdeen 

‘Peer Review Presentations’ – I contributed two peer review presentations as part of the papers workshop elements of the Trans-Atlantic Rural Research Network (TARRN) Annual Meeting (April, 2019), Aberdeen 

'Introducing time, temporality and change in non-representational geographies and Beyond' - co-presentation with Amy C. Barron (The University of Manchester) presented as part of 'Temporality and Change: Non-representational Geographies and Beyond' session, sponsored by the History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group, at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference (August 2018), Cardiff

Selected conference session and working group organisation

‘People moving to the countryside: resurgent again in COVID-19 times… but are they staying?’ - Co-Session Convenor & Session Chair with Keith Halfacree (Swansea), sponsored by the Rural Geography Research Group, at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference (September 2022), Newcastle/Online.

'Temporality and Change: Non-Representational Geographies and Beyond' - Co-session convenor with Amy C. Barron (The University of Manchester). Sponsored by the History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference (August 2018), Cardiff.

'New and Emerging Rural Researchers' - Co-Session Convenor with Fidel Budy (Aberystwyth), sponsored by the Rural Geography Research Group at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference (September 2018), Cardiff.

‘Ageing in the rural north' – Co-Session convenor with Mai Camilla Munkejord (Uni Research Rokkan Centre & Arctic University of Norway) & Mags Currie (The James Hutton Institute), at the 5th Nordic Ruralities Conference (May 2018), Vingsted, Denmark 

'Non-representational geographies: practices, pedagogies and writing' - Session convenor, sponsored by the Social & Cultural Geography Research Group and History and Philosophy of Geography Research Group, at the RGS-IBG Annual Conference (September 2017), London.

‘Ageing rural communities: experiences and consequences of uneven demographic processes’ - Co-Working Group Convenor with Lorna Philip and Mags Currie at the 27th ESRS Congress (July 2017), Kraków, Poland.

'Exploring the emotional geographies of ageing’ - Session convenor at the 6th International Emotional Geographies Conference (June 2017), Long Beach, California, USA.

Funding and Grants

Research Funding Grants

Dunhill Medical Trust Studentship: ‘Supporting future care decisions for older people’ ~£85,000 Interdisciplinary PhD Studentship (2022-2026) [Co-supervisor]

NHS Grampian Endowment Research Grant  (2022-2023) - £11,954.95 Understanding digital appointment inequalities in NHS Grampian: exploring digital exclusion and identifying solutions to address it with our rural and urban communities (2022-2023) [Co-Investigator]

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research Programme (2022-2023) - £238,266.70 'Come and work here!' Exploring the role of local community-led initiatives to improve recruitment and retention of healthcare staff in remote and rural areas [Co-Investigator]

NHS Grampian Endowment Research Grant (2021-2022) - £11,957 Pilot study to investigate experiences, differences and changes to medical care for people living in remote and rural areas of Scotland [Primary Investigator]

University of Aberdeen and James Hutton Institute Research Studentship (2014-2018) – ~£82,000 Four Years Postgraduate funding awarded, including Stipend, Research Budget and Fees 

Travel grants and conference participation funding

Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) Rural Geography Research Group Early Career Researcher Conference Grant (2019) - £300 Contribution to the cost of the ninth Rural Quadrennial Conference, Vermont, USA

Loughborough University Invited Speaker funding (2019) - £380 Travel and accommodation for the Loughborough University Institute of Advanced Studies Research Symposium

European Society for Rural Sociology Student award (2017) - £750 

James Hutton Institute Student Travel Award (2017) - £880 (Competition funded - 6 awards from 40 applications) -Used for AAG 2017 Conference, Boston

University of Aberdeen, School of Geosciences Travel Grant (2015) - £250 Used for Emotional Geographies conference 2015, Edinburgh

Clan MacLaren Society (2011-2012; 2012-2013) - £250pa A.R. & K.M. Maclaren Trust - Award for Higher Education, used for the cost of academic fieldtrips in honours years at The University of Edinburgh

Research Training Grants

University of Aberdeen Qualitative Research Methods Spring School (2015) Place awarded following competitive application

Development Grants

University of Aberdeen Development Trust Student Experience Fund Grant (2017) - £500 I co-led the application and writing of this grant to the Development fund with Granite Editorial Board (co-editors Haley French and Nathan French). This money was used to run the 2017 2nd Granite Postgraduate Symposium ‘Between using and abusing our planet’.

Graduate School Conference Grant (2016) - £265 Granite Postgraduate Symposium. I was a part of a co-application to the researcher development unit for funds which were used to hold the 1st Granite Postgraduate Symposium ‘Engaging the intersections of Humanity and Technology’.

Researcher Development Unit Grant (2014-2015 Academic Year) - £250 I led a postgraduate proposal in the new student competition for the formation of a journal. The money was used to hold an incubator day for the journal Granite to set up an editorial board, and establish the journal from there.

Teaching Responsibilities

I have experience in teaching across postgraduate, honours and sub-honours undergraduate levels. In 2020 I was awarded a Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (now Advance HE), having previously been an Associate Fellow (2015-2019)

Institute of Applied Health Sciences 2023-date

In my role as Lecturer in Applied Health Sciences I contribute across the programmes & courses in the institute including: 

Programme Coordinator for Master of Public Health (MPH) - January starts 

Course Coordinator: PU5030 - Epidemiology

PU5529 - Qualitative Health Research (On campus & online)

PU5552 - Public Health In Action

PU5560 - Advanced Research Project

Health Services Research Unit, University of Aberdeen 2020-2023

As a Research Fellow I contributed to the postgraduate masters course PU5529, Qualitative Health Research and acted as a moderator for PU5923, Extended Work-Based Placement in Applied Health Sciences.

Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen, 2018-2020

As a Teaching Fellow in Geography & Environment I was involved in contributing across the degree programme.

GG1008 - Global Worlds, Global Challenges; In this first year course I was responsible for teaching workgroups and delivering lectures introducing students to cultural geographies. 

GG2014 - Space, Economy and Society; In this second year course I was responsible for delivering lectures on cultural and political geographies, marking assignments and designing assessment.

GG4073 - Rural Geographies; I was responsible for marking assignments and leading seminars on everyday life in rural communities.

GG1510 - Global Worlds, Local Challenges; In this first year course I was responsible for teaching workgroups and delivering introductory lectures on economic geographies and urban change in Scotland.

GG2508 - Skills & Techniques in Geosciences; I introduced students to geographical research methods (qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods) and supervised student led projects on the human geography fieldtrip to Stirling.

GG2509 - Environment & Society; I lead introductory lectures for students that engaged with environmental ethics, markets, sustainability and ecosystem services.

GG3570 - Concepts in Human Geography; I course coordinated this Honours module that introduces students to the development and application of contemporary human geographical concepts. This involved designing, developing and delivering seminars and assessment.

GG3573 - Research Methods; I was responsible for delivering a workshop on qualitative data analysis and for marking coursework. 

GG3578 - Human Geography Honours Field Course; I was responsible for supervising student led projects on an International fieldtrip to Gdańsk, Poland.

GG4537 - Geographical Issues; In this capstone course I was responsible for introducing students to the contemporary geographical issue of demographic ageing, helping students develop their work ideas and marking coursework.

GG4023 - Geography Dissertation; I was responsible for marking final year student dissertations as well as assisting third year students in developing their own dissertation topic ideas.

Graduate Teaching Assistant , Department of Geography, University of Aberdeen 2014-2018

As a Graduate Teaching Assistant I was responsible for delivering a range of workshops, seminars, practicals and tutorials on a range of first and second year courses. I was also responsible seminars in Honours courses GG3071 - Approaches to Geography and GG3576 - Globalisation that dealt with advanced aspects of geographical thought and approaches.

Tutor and Demonstrator, The University of Edinburgh (2013-2014)

First Year Core Module: Human Geography

Second Year Core Module: Social & Cultural Geography

Third Year Honours Core Module: Research Design in Geography

Qualifications & Memberships

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2020-date)

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2015-2020)

Certificate in Principles of Learning & Teaching in Higher Education (Aberdeen, 2015)