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Sara Waring

Dr Sara Waring
PhD, C.Psychol, FHEA, PGCert L&T

Senior Lecturer in Investigative and Forensic Psychology
Psychology

Professional Activities

I conduct research with a variety of agencies external to the University, including law enforcement and emergency services, and Public Health England and Wales. I also deliver decision making training for many of these agencies, as well as assisting in the design, delivery and evaluation of large scale disaster response training exercises.

Conference Roles

  • Invitation to present at the European Society of Medicine 2022 Conference (Spain), by Invitation (Spain, 2022)
  • 5th International Conference on Missing Children and Adults, by Invitation (2021)
  • Building Urban Resilience in the Global South at Invitation to Frontiers of Development Symposium, by Invitation (Putrajaya, Malaysia, 2019)
  • Multiagency Information Sharing in Live Threat Incidents at Invitation to present at the British Psychological Society Division of Forensic Psychology Annual Conference, by Invitation (2019)
  • Research with Impact: Decision Making and Information Sharing During Disaster Response at Invited to present at the All-Ireland Psychology Student Congress, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (University College Dublin, 2019)
  • Facilitators and Barriers to Developing Firefighter Resilience at Annual Conference in Fire Related Research and Developments (2018)
  • “Ex. Absorb & Op. Zenith”: Information Sharing and Decision Delay in Extreme Environments at Invitation to present at Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats Conference, by Invitation (2017)
  • Perception, Calculation and Communication of Risk Under High Uncertainty at Invitation to the 6th Asian-Pacific Symposium on Structural Reliability and its Applications, by Invitation (Singapore, 2016)
  • Decision Inertia in High Stakes Contexts at Invitation to present in the Criminal and Terrorist Threats: Assessing the Resilience of Underground Infrastructure Workshop, by Invitation (Bergen, Norway, 2017)
  • Invitation to present at a CREST conference, by Invitation (Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, 2017)
  • Invitation to present at 16th Toward Autonomous Robotic Systems conference, by Invitation (16th Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems, 2015)
  • Decision Making under Conditions of Uncertainty at Invitation to present keynote speech at the Operational Discretion Conference, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters, 2018 - 2019)

Editorships

  • Frontiers in Psychology (Invited Guest Editor, 2021 - 2022)

Event Roles

  • National Fire Chiefs Council COVID-19 Learning Workshop (Workshop, Eleanor Rathbone Building, University of Liverpool, 2022)

Examination Roles

  • University of Liverpool, PhD in Psychology (2023)
  • Charles Sturt University, Doctor of Public Safety Examination, Charles Sturt University Australia (PhD, 2022)
  • PhD Examination, Kings College London (2021)
  • University of Liverpool, PSYC706 Assessment and Legal Processes (PGT, 2018 - present)
  • University of Liverpool, PhD Examination, University of Liverpool (2018 - present)

Expert Opinions

  • Lead External Evaluator for the National Fire Chiefs Council COVID Committee, Invited (National Fire Chiefs Council, 2020 - 2022)
  • Merseyside Resilience Forum - Training, Exercising and Validation Subhroup, Invited (2018 - present)
  • Business continuity and resilience, Invited (2018 - present)
  • Independent debrief of the Bosley Mill explosion, Invited (2016 - present)

External Administrative or Committee Roles

  • Member of the National Fire Chiefs Council Academic Collaboration, Evaluation and Research Group (National Fire Chiefs Council, 2022 - present)
  • Expert Advisor to a Home Office funded project, Invited (Lancaster University, 2020 - present)
  • Expert Evaluator and Advisor for the National Fire Chiefs Council COVID-19 Recovery Group, Invited (Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, 2020 - 2022)

Internal Administrative or Committee Roles

  • IPH Institute Leadership Team Member (School / Institute, 2023 - present)
  • Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Research and Impact Strategy Committee member (Faculty, 2023 - present)
  • IPH Research and Impact Committee member (School / Institute, 2023 - present)
  • Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Impact Leads Group member (Faculty, 2023 - present)
  • IPH Impact Group Lead (School / Institute, 2022 - present)
  • Institute of Population Health Impact Lead (School / Institute, 2022 - present)
  • Member of the UoA4 REF Planning Committee (School / Institute, 2019 - 2021)
  • Impact Lead for the Department of Psychology (Department, 2016 - present)
  • IPH Impact Group Member (School / Institute, 2022 - present)
  • Independent member of UoA2 REF planning group (Faculty, 2019 - 2021)
  • IPH Research Committee member (School / Institute, 2019 - present)
  • UoA4 REF Impact Lead (Faculty, 2018 - present)
  • Research Coordinator for the Critical and Major Incident Psychology research group (Department, 2014 - present)
  • Ethics Reviewer (University, 2018 - present)
  • IPH content lead for the social psychology and individual differences theme of the UG curriculum (School / Institute, 2017 - present)
  • Deputy Programme Director of the MSc in Investigative and Forensic Psychology (School / Institute, 2013 - present)

Media Appearances

  • Various articles of University of Liverpool News, University of Liverpool (Invited)
  • BBC Radio Merseyside interview, BBC Radio Merseyside, Roger Phillips phone-in (Invited, September 2018)
  • Newspaper article - "Don’t panic – meet the experts with a steady hand when disaster strikes", The Guardian (Invited, September 2018)
  • Extreme Decision Making, University of Liverpool podcast (Invited, April 2018)
  • The Kerslake Report - Opinion Piece, University of Liverpool News (Invited, March 2018)
  • Good Rapport in Interviews, CREST Security Review (Invited, November 2016)
  • Considerations for Training Development, Crisis Response (March 2016)
  • Have you tried science?, University College London radio show (Invited, February 2016)

Organisations I have been associated with

  • NSPCC (2021 - present)
  • Missing People (2021 - present)
  • Devon and Cornwall Police (2020 - present)
  • South Wales Police (2020 - present)
  • National Fire Chiefs Council (2020 - present)
  • Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (2013 - 2015)
  • Public Health England (2017 - present)
  • Public Health Wales (2018 - present)
  • Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (2013 - present)
  • London Fire Brigade (2014 - present)
  • Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (2015 - present)
  • Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (2009 - present)
  • North West Ambulance Service (2014 - present)
  • London Ambulance Service (2014 - present)
  • Merseyside Resilience Forum (2014 - present)
  • London Resilience Partnership (2015 - present)
  • Merseyside Police Service (2010 - present)
  • Metropolitan Police Service (2018 - present)
  • West Midlands Police (2009)
  • West Mercia Police (2008)
  • Dorset Police (2007 - 2008)
  • National Police Improvement Agency (2009 - 2010)
  • Mersey Ferries (2013 - 2014)
  • Merseyside Youth Offending Service (2007 - 2008)
  • Cheshire East Council (2013 - 2015)
  • Barnardo's (2013 - 2015)
  • Cheshire Without Abuse (2013 - 2015)
  • Hydra Foundation - http://www.hydrafoundation.org (2011 - present)

Professional Body Memberships

  • Incident Command Group, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (Expert Academic Advisor, 2020 - present)
  • Centre for Crime, Justice and Policing, University of Birmingham (Member, 2019 - present)
  • N8 Policing Research Partnership (Member, 2015 - present)
  • Better Policing Collaborative (Member, 2015 - present)
  • Liverpool Institute for Risk and Uncertainty, University of Liverpool (Member, 2013 - present)
  • Centre for Autonomous Systems Technology, University of Liverpool (Member, 2013 - present)
  • Higher Education Academy (Fellow, 2012 - present)
  • British Psychological Society (Chartered Psychologist, Member of Forensic Division, 2011 - present)
  • Hydra Foundation (Academic Member, 2011 - present)

Other Administrative or Committee Roles

  • Module coordinator for PSYC703 Policing and Emergency Response
  • Deputy programme director for MSc Investigative and Forensic Psychology
  • IPHS lead for the Undergraduate curriculum theme of 'social psychology and individual differences'
  • IPHS lead for the 'excellence in research' subgroup of the Psychological Sciences review team