Prof Sally Priest

Deputy Dean - Research and Knowledge Exchange

  • School Faculty of Science and Technology

  • Department S&T School Leadership

  • Location London

Research activities

Sally undertakes many research and knowledge exchange activitiesinvestigating the impacts of flooding and how these can be reduced. She hasexplored a diverse range of flooding issues including: the benefits of floodwarning, the potential for risk to life from flooding, flood vulnerability,risk communication, benefit appraisal, flood risk governance and the currentand future viability of flood risk insurance, and therefore has a good overallappreciation of many areas of flood risk management. Through various projectsshe has linked socio-economics with hazard modelling and developed variousflood risk assessment methodologies (risk to life, flood recovery, impacts of householddisplacement) and has studied the health impacts of flooding. Sally leads themethodological development of non-property damage data and methodologies of theMulti-coloured Manual suite whichincludes approaches for estimating the benefits of preventing flood disruptionto utility and transport networks and to other institutions such as schools andhospitals.

Specific areas of researchinterest and competency:

  • Flood insurance and recovery mechanisms –understanding of the role of recovery and insurance following flooding andtheir viability, issues of availability and affordability and the developmentof an optimum approach.
  • Public awareness-raising and risk communication –effectiveness of public information in raising awareness about flooding and theinfluence that it has on attitudes and behaviour, including the role of floodrisk maps and the impact of different data sources.
  • Flood Warning Systems – Dissemination,communication and behavioural responses and developing models to estimate thedamage reducing benefits of flood warnings.
  • Flood incident management – Research into loss oflife modelling and evacuation to improve flood emergency management.
  • Analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of floodmanagement institutions and policy regimes – Research about the governancearrangements of flood risk
  • Justice and distributional consequences of floodrisk management decision-making.

    •  Knowledge exchange

    An externally recognised flood risk management expert Sallyis repeatedly called upon by national and international floodpolicymakers/practitioners for her expert opinion; fulfilling invitationalroles on steering committees, advisory groups and undertaking governmental peerreview. Recently, for the Environment Agency (EA) she undertook a criticalreview of approaches to measure and monitor flood resilience which is beingadopted nationwide. Since 2016, she has also served as an invited member of theJoint Defra/EA Flood and Coastal Risk Management R&D Programme setting theagenda for directing flood risk management practice. She was also an invitedexpert on the Ambition group to deliver the English National Flood RiskManagement Strategy to 2100. Published in 2020 this the key document settingthe direction for flood risk management for the next 80 years.


    Current Teaching

    Sally currently provides research-led teaching to a range ofdifferent programmes at undergraduate and post-graduate level (e.g. OccupationalSafety and Health; Environmental Health, Public Health, Sustainability andEnvironmental Management, Global Governance and Sustainable Development). Her teachingfocusses on three core subject areas: sustainability, flood risk governance andthe impacts of floods on human health. Additionally, she brings utilises her research experience to teach researchmethods to students to prepare them for their projects.

    Sally has supervised four PhD students to completion and iscurrently supervising another four doctoral students:

  • Adesola Akindejoye-Adesioye (PhD): SystemicSocietal Vulnerability to Coastal Flooding: A Case Of Eti- Osa, Lagos Nigeria(Supervisor)
  • Malcolm Bevan (MPhil/PhD):The impact offlooding/environmental disasters has on the occupational well-being ofprofessional emergency responders (Director of Studies)
  • Arzoo Hassan (MPhil/PhD): Social inclusivityof flood risk management policies (Director of Studies)
  • Rachel Flowers (DProf): Exploring theleadership role of English Directors of Public Health during a major incident(Supervisor)
  • Samaneh Serpooshan (MPhil/PhD): Understandingcommunity notions of flood resilience (Director of Studies)

    • Biography

    Professor Sally Priest is both Deputy Dean for Research andKnowledge Exchange in the Faculty of Science and Technology and Head of theFlood Hazard Research Centre.  She hasover 20 years’ experience researching the socio-economic aspects of flood risk,utilising both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. Linking to twoof Middlesex University’s Themes of Sustainabilityof Communities and the Environment and Equityand Improvements in Health and Wellbeing, her applied research sits at theinterface of flood risk research and the allied fields of risk management andpractice, working on developing solutions for creating safer and moresustainable communities. Sally frequently undertakes research for government organisationsthe outputs of which are utilised to inform public policy and practice.

    Publications

    View publications