The three founders of Telic Systems Research, who jointly govern its research trajectory, and own the IPR assets created in the course of its research, are Karen Tesson, Lorraine Whitmarsh and Richard Williams.
Other people who have helped us to develop our research over the years are Annie Campbell, Emma Howarth, Nick Nash, Matthew Peacock, Louise Stimpson and Diccon Tesson.
Lorraine Whitmarsh
Lorraine was born and raised in the city of Portsmouth, UK. When studying for her Bachelor's Degree in Theology and Religious Studies (with French) at the University of Kent in Canterbury, Lorraine developed a particular interest in science and religion. This led to a longstanding fascination with different forms of knowledge and belief about the world, especially the diverse and idiosyncratic ways in which these forms interrelate, combine and conflict. After spending some time working in the private sector, Lorraine decided to develop her academic interests further and studied for a Master’s Degree in Science Culture and Communication in the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, passing with Distinction. Her dissertation examined ‘eco-religious’ and scientific beliefs about the natural environment. This reflected her growing interest in environmental psychology and communication. In 2000 Lorraine won a funding scholarship that enabled her to remain in the Department to study for a PhD in public understandings of and responses to climate change, which she was awarded in 2005. Her methodology comprised a large-scale quantitative survey and qualitative interviews with people living in the South of England, including those affected by flooding.
Prior to and during her PhD, Lorraine was also employed as a researcher at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, exploring issues relating to visual impairment and guide dog ownership. After being awarded her PhD, Lorraine was employed as a Senior Research Associate at the prestigious Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research (www.tyndall.ac.uk) at the University of East Anglia. In 2009 Lorraine moved to the School of Psychology at the University of Cardiff (www.cardiff.ac.uk/psych), where she holds a Lectureship in Environmental Psychology. Her research, which employs both quantitative and qualitative methods of data generation and analysis, examines three main areas. These areas comprise public engagement with climate change and ‘carbon literacy’, ‘carbon offsetting’ and ‘carbon lifestyles’, public and stakeholder participation in sustainability, science and policymaking, and innovation and behaviour change in relation to sustainable transport and consumption.
With reference to TSR, Lorraine was centrally involved in designing and administering the online survey for the CCHE study. In addition, she helped to refine the model of interpersonal relationships that went on to inform this study. Furthermore, Lorraine also assisted with fieldwork, including interviewing LEP and CCHE participants, supervising junior research staff and analysing the LEP and CCHE data.
Lorraine maintains her links to the Tyndall Centre as a Visiting Fellow. She is also a Visiting Fellow within the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath, through which she continues her work with TSR on research into goal identification, conflict and change. Since studying for her PhD, Lorraine has also acted as a consultant on a variety of research projects on social and environmental issues for organisations including the Environment Agency and the British Science Association. She also serves on the British Science Association’s Committee on Science and Society, as well as the Editorial Board of the Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change Journal. When Lorraine has any remaining spare time, much of it is spent running. In 2008 she completed her first marathon.
Richard Williams
Richard was born in Wimbledon, Surrey, UK and grew up in the Lebanon, during a relatively peaceful interlude in that country's troubled and turbulent history. His family subsequently moved to Egypt, during a thaw in Anglo-Egyptian relations in the first half of the 1960s.
After attending secondary school in the English Midlands, where his early academic career got off to a promising start, he began a Bachelor’s Degree in the School of Molecular Sciences at the University of Sussex in 1969. In the Spring of 1970, Richard transferred to the School of Social Sciences, thereby attending preliminary courses in both the Sciences and the Arts, and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Social Psychology in 1973.
After graduating from Sussex, Richard moved to West London, where he pursued a career in Library and Information Science. After obtaining a professional qualification in 1976, he specialised in computerised library systems, eventually managing the automated cataloguing and circulation systems for a London Borough. He moved on to a mainstream software development role in 1981 and, after completing further training courses at IBM, worked for four years as a Systems Analyst and Project Team Leader. During this same period, Richard also developed an interest in General Systems Theory, and was inspired in particular by the writings of the theoretical biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy.
Building upon his thorough grounding in information systems and psychology, Richard began to engage with the then popular fields of artificial intelligence and cognitive science. His interest in this field became more focused after attending a lecture on cognitive architecture by George Kiss, of the University of Warwick. Subsequently, Richard made the decision to return to academia and, having secured funding from the Science and Engineering Research Council, embarked upon the MSc in Cognition, Computing and Psychology at Warwick, which George was directing at the time. He graduated from Warwick in 1986, having obtained a Distinction for his MSc Dissertation, ‘Reasoning about Goals and Values in Strategic Planning'.
Richard’s MSc studies and experience at Warwick proved to be more congenial, productive and rewarding than his earlier academic endeavours, and he followed this up by registering for a PhD, whilst also establishing his own business as an IT Consultant. These arrangements allowed him to continue his research into the psychology of goals, whilst also investigating its commercial applications. He developed a prototype Goal Management System (GMS) which was subsequently adapted for use in projects with several major public sector institutions, to assist them in defining and monitoring their strategic objectives and plans. He was awarded his PhD in Psychology in 1993.
Richard moved back to London in 1992 and continued working as an IT Consultant, going on to specialise in the development of Human Resource and Management Development software. He moved to the West of England in 1996, following his wife Caroline's appointment as Lecturer in History at the University of Bristol.
Seeking to resume and broaden his academic research, Richard made contact with the Departments of Psychology and Biology at the University of Bath, which led to his meeting Lorraine and Karen, both of whom were engaged in their PhD research at the Science Studies Centre. The three of them formed the nucleus of what subsequently evolved into Telic Systems Research, and later drew in other researchers from the University of Bath and beyond, as the TSR research vehicle gathered momentum.
When not wrestling with commercial IT projects, and co-ordinating TSR's research efforts, Richard enjoys listening to a wide variety of music, walking in the local countryside and playing the electric guitar.
He is currently designing and building an online software application which offers a rich and interactive graphical representation of the model of workplace relationships that TSR has developed for the CCHE Studies. The graphics will be used to illustrate data that has already been collected, and the online program will be deployed as a convenient and efficient data collection device for future studies.
Karen Tesson
Karen is a web applications developer and researcher and lives in Dorset, UK. She was awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biological Science at the University of Bath in 1999. Subsequently, Karen went on to study for a PhD in Psychology, also at the University of Bath. Karen’s doctoral research examined communicative networks. Her thesis comprised an interdisciplinary study of parallels between physical, biological and social network organisation, and draws on elements from ecopsychology and inclusionality theory. Karen completed her Doctorate in July 2006.
An innovative and original development coming from Karen’s research into networks has been the concept of the ‘flow-form network’. ‘Flow-form’ network structures are fluid-based communicative networks, corresponding to the tubular flow-managing networks found in biological systems such as fungal mycelial networks and blood circulatory systems. Part of Karen's doctoral research investigated the nature and dynamics of natural flow-form networks, suggesting their potential as both model and metaphor in human communicative contexts. Her current research interests include flow form patterns of human communication in business contexts, inclusional methods of enquiry in science, sociology, psychology and IT, and flow-form computing.
Karen is currently a Partner within Adrian Tesson Associates, a family-owned IT and computing applications design company, based in Dorset in the south-west UK. Inclusional approaches have informed and guided Karen's subsequent commercial and research activities. In terms of practical application, this has resulted in a number of novel web design projects including the Inclusional-Research and Inclusionality.org sites, as well as the Telic Systems Research site that you are currently reading from. In addition to her work on computer systems and web development, Karen is also an interdisciplinary researcher specialising in novel ‘whole systems’ methodologies.
Ever the eclectic, Karen also runs an online store for handspinner's materials and tools, where she sells wool from her own flock of pedigree Ryeland sheep and handcrafted timber and resin drop spindles. Karen's other interests include photography, training and riding her three horses. Karen also admits that she's a bit of a sci-fi fan too.
Matthew Peacock
Matthew was born in Woking, Surrey, UK. After leaving school he began a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature at Royal Holloway College, University of London. Here Matthew cultivated his interest in fiction. He realised that he was interested in reading fiction because it offered insights into the behaviour and motivations of the characters involved via the thought experiments of the novel's plot. His interest in behaviour, motivation and the human condition more generally eventually resulted in his decision to divert his academic interests more towards psychology. In developing his own skills as a writer of fiction, these psychological insights were to prove invaluable.
After working in the private sector for some time, Matthew decided to pursue his interest in psychology by completing a Conversion Diploma in Psychology at the University of Sunderland, which would enable him to gain the qualification needed in order to undertake further postgraduate work in psychology. In 2001, he took a place on the Master’s Degree in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Bath. There he learned of qualitative research methods offering new ways into a subject he had long been interested in investigating; the psychology of creative processes. This was followed by a second Master’s Degree in Psychological Research Methods, again at Bath. This was undertaken mainly to expand his research skills and increase his chances of attracting Research Council funding for his PhD.
In 2003, Matthew commenced his PhD at Bath, comparing interview accounts of fiction writers and creative scientists talking about their creative processes. At the same time, he was working on a number of research projects, both within the Department of Psychology at Bath and for other organisations including the British Science Association. In addition, he gained academic experience marking, lecturing and helping to organise departmental activities. This enabled him to gain invaluable experience of a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods in relation to a range of topics, specifically interview methodology and discursive analysis. He was awarded his Doctorate in Psychology in 2008.
The most important of these projects was TSR's investigation into patterns of conflict and cooperation in higher education employees, which proved to be an inestimable growth experience. Matthew was responsible for recruiting and liaising with participants for the pioneering first stage of the CCHE project. In addition to this, Matthew administered and followed up the questionnaire fieldwork, processed the data, arranged and conducted the majority of the interviews and analysed their results in conjunction with his TSR crewmates. After the PhD, Matthew spent some time travelling abroad and disseminating his thesis findings, as well as working on various freelance research consultancy projects. In addition, he was employed for some time as a web journalist.
Matthew is currently working with the University of Surrey's ‘Food, Consumer Behaviour and Health' Unit to gain qualitative insight into how people read and respond to the nutritional information on food packaging. He also sponsors a retired racing greyhound. His spare time is mostly spent writing novels…and trying to convince people to read or, better yet, publish them.
Louise Stimpson
Louise completed her Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology at the University of Plymouth in 2004. Following this she undertook a Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychological Research Methods, which was completed in 2005. After graduation she worked in the hospitality industry, including management team positions in a range of bars and restaurants. After working in this capacity for some time Louise moved to Bristol in 2007 to take a Master’s Degree in Vision Sciences at the University of Bristol. It was at this time that she also joined the TSR research team.
Since graduating in 2008, Louise has worked for a national charity as a research analyst, whilst also taking on a key role in TSR's Conflict and Cooperation in Higher Education project. Her principal contributions to TSR in the past include the transcription of interviews for the CCHE study and analysing responses from the online CCHE survey. Louise is currently working on the development of Telic Coherence Analysis (TCA) as a research tool and counselling process.
When she is not playing with databases, Louise loves to be outdoors, likes to travel and enjoys meeting and socialising with family and friends.
Diccon Tesson
Diccon Tesson is a computer programmer, Linux technician and Partner within Adrian Tesson Associates, based in Dorset, UK. Whilst studying for his A Level in Computing, he learned the Java programming language and went on to become particularly knowledgeable with reference to Linux operating systems. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computing at the University of Bournemouth in 2007.
Subsequently, Diccon has cultivated his interest in computing and academic prowess much further. He is fluent in 14 programming languages, as well as being familiar with a range of applications, databases and software tools. In addition to his work with Adrian Tesson Associates, Diccon served an internship with software house, XKO for 10 months. During this time he worked on Enterprise Resource Planning products, which comprised accounting, stock management and Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS). In addition, he has been involved with internal IT management as well as dealing with a variety of technical issues for a range of industry clients. With reference to software development, Diccon has worked in a variety of sectors within the industry, including steel construction, point of sale, information systems, information websites, ecommerce, accounting and more. See http://www.tesson.co.uk/our-people/54-diccon-tesson for more details. He has also added his technical skills and software knowledge to the TSR team, contributing a great deal to the creation of the TSR website.
Nick Nash
Nick was born in Bristol, UK. Entering paid employment after leaving school, he went back into education in his early 20s where he became interested in studying psychology. After completing an Access to Higher Education qualification at the City of Bristol College, he then took a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology at the University of the West of England, which he completed in 1999. After spending some time working and travelling abroad, he returned to the UK to do a Master’s Degree in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Bath, which he was awarded in 2002.
Having won funding from the Economic and Social Research Council to do a PhD at Bath, Nick completed another Master’s Degree, this time in Psychological Research Methods. After completing this in 2003 he began his PhD, which examined people’s psychological relationships with place in the context of a housing development conflict in Swindon, UK. During this time he developed his interests in the psychology of place and qualitative methods, particularly discourse analysis and rhetorical theory. He was awarded his PhD in 2007.
Subsequently, Nick was employed by the University of Bath as a tutor on the undergraduate 'Controversies in Psychology' module and as an academic assistant. In addition, he has also contributed as a psychology research assistant on projects for the British Science Association and the Association for Moral Education. He currently divides his time between working for TSR as a qualitative researcher on the Conflict and Cooperation in Higher Education project, and as a product review writer for Internet company Cyberscape Media. Nick also recently took up a teaching fellowship back at Bath, where he teaches undergraduate courses on ‘Mind and Social Being’, ‘Research Methods and Design’ and ‘Applying Psychology’. In addition, he also teaches ‘Qualitative Methods’ on the postgraduate MRes in Psychology.
In his free time, Nick loves to travel to all kinds of places and tries to stay a little active by walking, running and mountain-biking.
Emma Howarth
Emma comes from Langport, Somerset, UK. She was awarded her Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Wales, Cardiff in 2008. Her thesis was titled, ‘Inter-parental conflict, domestic violence and children’s psychological adjustment: the role of children’s perceptions of parental behaviour’. Her research examined the ways in which children’s perceptions of their parents’ behaviour affected the impact of hostile and violent conflict on children’s psychological adjustment. Emma now works for a national domestic violence charity that is a leader in evaluating policy and developing novel empirical approaches that can be applied in order to help keep victims of abuse and their children safe. She is particularly interested in the use of quantitative research methods to develop evidence-based messages for practitioners and the translation of research to inform frontline work with victims of abuse and their children.
Emma’s current contribution to TSR involves the supervision and preparation of the CCHE online survey dataset for submission to the UK Data Archive.
Annie Campbell
Annie was born in Cardiff. She joined the CCHE team after having spent some time on work experience with Lorraine Whitmarsh in the summer of 2009. This work was undertaken in conjunction with her university studies. Since being introduced to the group by Lorraine, Annie has contributed by conducting inferential statistical analyses of the CCHE dataset, preparing the data for archiving and documenting the utilised dataset.
Annie recently completed a degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of Bristol. The emphasis of this degree course was focused on more traditional scientific approaches to the study of psychology, based upon quantitative statistical methods as well as qualitative research skills. Annie's dissertation investigated the potential presence of attentional bias towards the colour red using a dot-probe task.
With broad interests across the area of psychology, Annie particularly enjoys psychological approaches to the environment, nutrition and behaviour, relationships and attachment, and cognitive development. She intends to follow on her degree with a Master’s in Health Psychology at the University of Bath, beginning in 2011. In her spare time she follows her passion for art by drawing and painting, which began when studying art at school. Annie’s art work is inspired by bold colours and patterns. Recently she has also enjoyed combining country walks with her passion for photography.
