About

Before joining UDOL I was a Visiting Post-doctoral Scholar within the Safe Transportation Research and Education Center at the University of California at Berkeley, conducting independent research into 1) the ageing passenger population; 2) human factors considerations with self-driving cars. As the applied psychologist, I was also part of a multidisciplinary team of researchers involved in projects assessing traffic safety culture (funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety); bicycle level of service; and yielding behaviours at intersections (funded by the California Department of Transportation). My role within the team involved the design of research projects and the development of survey materials, mentoring student researchers, analysing data, and writing academic reports.

Prior to this I was the recipient of an internationally competitive Endeavour Research Fellowship funded by the Australian Government, enabling me to conduct independent research at the University of New South Wales, Australia. There I focused on the use of escalators among older rail passengers, and gained an international perspective on the Human Factors research that I am so passionate about. I completed my BSc Psychology with Ergonomics, MSc Health Psychology, PhD and postdoctoral research at Loughborough University, looking into crowd behaviour, rail safety (funded by the Rail Safety and Standards Board), teenagers trespassing (funded by Network Rail), and the ageing population.

As a registered member of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors I have worked for a number of ergonomics design consultancies within the medical device usability sector, gaining practical experience and utilising both analytical and empirical approaches.

Research interests

My research interests broadly focus on human factors and ergonomics, as well as social and environmental psychology.

I have a passion for researching the ageing population, use of public transport, and escalator use. I am also very fascinated by crowd behaviour, and the safety and satisfaction of participants within a crowd. This with respect to the use of transport hubs, passenger flow, and passenger experience.

More recently I have developed an interest in the human factors considerations with the introduction of self-driving cars. I am also very interested in medical device usability, and have been involved in a number of consultancy projects in line with this.

Membership of professional bodies

• Registered member of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors

Qualifications

• PhD Human Factors - Loughborough University
• MSc Psychology of Work and Health (distinction) - Loughborough University
• BSc (Hons) Psychology with Ergonomics - Loughborough University

Recent conferences

Additional interests and activities

When I’m not teaching or researching all things Ergonomics, I like to relax with some Pilates, a good run, photography, or a spot of baking!

Recent publications

• Kendrick, V.L., Waterson, P.E., Eason, K. & Haslam, R.A. 2016. Factors influencing experience in crowds – the participant perspective. Applied Ergonomics, in press.
• Underwood, P., Kendrick, V.L. & Waterson, P. 2016. Teenage Trespass on the Railways - A Systems Approach. Transport, in press.
• Waterson, P., Kendrick, V.L., Ryan, B., Jun, T., & Haslam, R. 2016. Probing Deeper into the Risks of Slips, Trips and Falls for an Ageing Rail Passenger Population: Applying a Systems Approach. IET Intelligent Transport Systems, 10(1), 25-31.
• Kendrick, V.L. 2015. Introduction to Crowd Science, Ergonomics, 26, 1-2.
• Kendrick, V.L., Haslam, R.A., & Waterson, P.E. 2012. Planning crowd events to achieve high participant satisfaction. Work: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment and Rehabilitation, 41(1), 3223-3226.