Recent Activities

December 2023

• Passed my PhD viva with minor corrections

October 2023

• The first paper from my PhD, Choropleth Maps Can Convey Absolute Magnitude Through the Range of the Accompanying Colour Legend, was published in Behaviour and Information Technology (Open Access).

September 2023

• Presented More or Less: Interpretations of Absolute Magnitude in Data Visualisations, at #VizTIG Symposium 2023 (Lightning Talk). Organised by CUSP London and the Alan Turing Institute.

July 2023

• Presented The Psychology of Data Visualisations: Leading and Misleading, at London Data Visualisation. I discussed how experimental methods can help reveal how design choices change the message conveyed by a chart.

May 2023

• My article Taking Time Is an Effective Way To Process Large Numbers was published in Nightingale, the journal of the Data Visualisation Society. I explore a neglected temporal aspect of data visualisation which may help to effectively communicate a number’s true scale.

April 2023

• Attended Introduction to Data Wrangling and Analysis in JavaScript workshop, covering built-in functions for manipulating arrays and generating summary statistics, Arquero library for transforming data tables, D3 for data visualisation, and interactivity. Run by Observable.
• Attended SatRdays London 2023. Talks covered the use of R for a wide range of applications, including model deployment, automated reports, air quality visualisation, financial model auditing, and data-driven journalism. Organised by Jumping Rivers.

March 2023

• Attended web development workshops run by Le Wagon, covering HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

January 2023

• Instructor for BIOL63112 Mixed Models, Hackathon and Bayesian Statistics Workshop and BIOL63162 Scientific Programming, Computational Tools and Machine Learning (University of Manchester). Leading interactive programming sessions on mixed-effects modelling with R; programming and analysis with Python; version control (Git + GitHub); and reproducible environments (Docker + DockerHub).
• Attended Communicating Mathematics for the Public workshop, run by the Isaac Newton Institute (University of Cambridge).
• Presented a research poster Data Framing: Magnitude Judgements Are Influenced by Upper Bounds in Bar Charts and Choropleth Maps at the Experimental Psychology Society’s London Meeting (University College London).

November 2022

• Presented Cognitive Processing of Magnitude In Data Visualisations at the University of Bristol (Bristol DataViz Group).

October 2022

• Instructor for BIOL63101 Advanced Data Skills, Open Science and Reproducibility on MRes Experimental Psychology with Data Science and MRes Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology programmes (University of Manchester). Leading interactive programming sessions on reproducible data wrangling, data visualisation, and statistical modelling in R.
• Attended IEEE VIS 2022 (online)

August 2022

• Attended various workshops run by General Assembly: Intro to SQL (queries for interrogating databases), Intro to UX Design (approaches for designing effective interfaces, identifying user needs) and Intro to Tableau (building charts, maps, and dashboards for business intelligence).

July 2022

• Attended High-Dimensional Statistics with R workshop, covering analysis techniques for datasets containing a large number of features. Methods included regularised regression for fitting linear models with constraints that improve model estimates and predictions; dimensionality reduction (PCA, factor analysis) for capturing latent sources of variability; and cluster analysis (K-means clustering, hierarchical clustering) for grouping correlated variables into clusters with similar features. Run by Ed-DaSH at the University of Edinburgh.

June 2022

• Presented Effects of Context on Interpretation of Data Visualisations plus Fully-Reproducible Reporting with R and Docker at the University of Chester’s Psychology Research Seminar (Invited Talk)

May 2022

• Attended Managing Academic Software Development workshop, covering project management on GitHub: logging issues, using kanban boards, creating releases; plus generation of DOIs using Zenodo and using docstrings for documentation. Run by the Software Sustainability Institute and Southampton Research Software Group.
• Attended Software Instructor Training workshop, covering concept-mapping for constructing mental models, prioritisation of highly practical, quickly-learned skills, motivation and feedback, and the benefits and challenges of participatory live coding. Run by the Software Sustainability Institute.

March 2022

• Presented my research The Influence of Blank Space and Axis Range on Perceived Magnitude in Data Visualisations at the Experimental Psychology Society’s Spring Meeting (Keele University). Awarded Grindley Grant for conference attendance.

February 2022:

• Attended Introduction to Causal Inference and Directed Acyclic Graphs workshop, which explained how expressing data-generating mechanisms graphically prior to analysis assists in defining key causal processes, where experimental designs are infeasible. Run by The UK Reproducibility Network.

January 2022:

• Attended Automation and Make workshop, covering construction of Makefiles using the Unix Shell. These files capture dependencies between executable programs, data files, visualisations and documents associated with a project, and can update outputs following changes to related files, aiding reproducibility. Run by the University of Manchester IT Services.

November 2021:

• Graduate Teaching Assistant for BIOL33031 Reproducible Data Science on Biological Sciences MSci Programmes (University of Manchester), covering data wrangling, data visualisation, and statistical modelling, in a reproducible manner.

October 2021:

• Attended Introduction to the Unix Shell workshop, covering automation of large, repetitive tasks through a command-line interface. Run by the University of Manchester IT Services.
• Attended IEEE VIS 2021

September 2021:

• Teaching Assistant on Carpentries@Manchester: Data Carpentry Workshop (R), covering good practice for minimising error when using spreadsheets, OpenRefine for data cleaning, and R (tidyverse) for data analysis.
• Presented preliminary research at Manchester Vision Network’s Annual Research Showcase (online conference).

June 2021:

• Attended Simulation Summer School, covering simulation for factorial experiments, binary response data, Bayesian analysis, and power analysis. Organised by PsyPAG and BPS MSCP Section.

May 2021:

• Attended Intermediate Python Programming workshop, covering Matplotlib, pandas, and defensive programming. Run by the University of Manchester IT Services.

March 2021:

• Attended Boost your Research Reproducibility with Binder workshop, covering how to reproduce computational environments online. Run by The Turing Way and the Software Sustainability Institute.

February 2021:

• Attended Robust Open Analysis in R workshop on data management skills for open science, covering Git for version control, and pre-registration. Run by The Jean Golding Institute.
• Programmed this website using Github Pages

January 2021:

• Published a report in the BPS Cognitive Psychology Bulletin on using my Postgraduate Rapid Project Grant.

November 2020:

• Graduated MRes Psychology at the University of Manchester (with distinction and Programme Prize)
• Graduate Teaching Assistant for BIOL33031 Reproducible Data Science on Biological Sciences MSci Programmes (University of Manchester), covering R for data wrangling, data visualisation, and statistical modelling, in a reproducible manner.
• Student Helper at Methods@Manchester Methods Fair 2020 (monitoring discussion board; facilitating Zoom sessions; answering queries).

October 2020:

• Attended Programming in Python for Business Analytics course, covering object-oriented programming, data processing, and machine learning (Master’s level unit; auditing).
• Attended IEEE VIS 2020

September 2020:

• Awarded BPS Cognitive Psychology Section Postgraduate Rapid Project Grant