vital mobilities
University of Edinburgh / ​Lancaster University 

In my postdoctoral research, I trace the mobilities of vital mobilities required during crises. How do we, and how can we in future, get blood to people in need?                      In collaboration with organizations working in the field, I examine how vital mobilities are achieved in the context of infrastructure disruption, such as flooding exacerbated by climate change. Through case studies that trace blood supply chains, I aim to describe areas of resilience and vulnerability. By juxtaposing diverse and far-reaching cases – transporting blood by drone in Rwanda and by motorcycle in the UK – I forward metaphors of fluidity (sanguinity) and friction (coagulation) apt for the study of mobile society in a post-normal climate. 

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​beyond 'do no harm':
ethical research practice with migrants 
 
​What do ethical research practices with displaced people entail? This question was the focus of Beyond 'Do No Harm,' a workshop held at the University of Edinburgh. The workshop was premised on the idea that the ethical mantra ‘do no harm’ is insufficient when working with displaced people. To this end, the workshop was forum to share queries, concerns and practices about what beyond 'do no harm’ might entail. Here I highlight five takeaways that may be of use to the Doctors within Borders network and others working with vulnerable populations. Read more...

​bloodscape: an adventure ​
guest blog by frances ryan

I took part in a fun, blood-themed scavenger hunt yesterday. The event, Bloodscape, was designed to explore changing blood trends as part of the 2018 Being Human Festival. As someone who has a rare blood disease, and who loves geeky learning adventures, I was thrilled to be able to participate! Read more...

Blogger: Frances Ryan

blood drone-topia? tweets from 2051
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What might the movement of blood look like in the future? More specifically how might blood and drone mobilities -- both war dividends -- intersect (Sandvik 2014)?  Here I explore four scenarios based on fieldwork, current events and exposure to sci-fi. They are informed by and loosely correlate with Urry’s (2009) four future-building scenarios on the theme of carbon constraint. Read more...

Image: Royal College of Art

mobile medical futures 
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How do we move vital goods in times of crisis? How do medical and rescue organizations move blood when and where needed? For three days this summer design students and staff from Aalborg University and Lancaster-based community partners – NHS Blood and Transplant, Northwest Blood Bikes and Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team  – converged to consider Mobile Futures. Read more...

Image: NW Blood Bikes

taking out the trash
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​Picking Up is about the seemingly mundane and certainly smelly world of garbage collection in New York City. Author Robin Nagle is motivated by the question, “Who cleans up after us?” She works as an anthropologist-in-residence at the New York Department of Sanitation (DSNY) where she drives trucks, collects waste and clears snow. Nagle offers the reader an insider’s perspective on the four seasons of a sanitation worker: spring, maggots, leaves and night plow. Read more...

Image: Robin Nagle

5 anatomy lessons
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​Anatomy of a Soldier tells the story of a British captain injured in Afghanistan. From this compelling starting point, author Harry Parker adds a twist: forty-five objects narrate the story. Though a bestseller this book wasn’t on my radar until Ole B. Jensen, when speaking at Lancaster University’s Centre for Mobilities Research, made an off-hand but enthusiastic reference to it as an example of materiality. ​Read more...

Image: The Telegraph