Tara Beattie

Tara Beattie is a Senior Lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Engineering. She serves as Course Director for the MSc Environmental Engineering program since 2019 and leads critical research in public health-focused environmental engineering, with extensive fieldwork in Malawi. Her institutional affiliations include the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing and the Malawi University of Business and Applied Science (MUBAS).

Her educational background includes a PhD in Bacterial Contamination of Enteral Tube Feeding Systems from the University of Strathclyde (2005) and a BSc from the University of Glasgow (1991). She actively contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching through modules CL446, CL413, CL904, CL913, and EV921.

Beattie's research focuses on environmental risk to public health through four interconnected domains: (1) WASH interventions for adolescent wellbeing in Malawi under a £3M NIHR-funded Global Health Research Group; (2) Solid waste management efficiency in Nigerian higher education institutions; (3) Legionella ecology in compost environments following UK outbreak investigations; and (4) Acanthamoeba keratitis mechanisms linked to contact lens use. Her work consistently bridges engineering solutions with behavioral change strategies.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on process evaluation methodologies in low-resource settings, particularly Malawi's rural communities. Key trends include community-led sanitation implementation challenges, waste recycling policy gaps in developing economies, and microbial risk pathways in environmental media. Her research integrates environmental engineering with social determinants of health, evidenced by frequent interdisciplinary collaborations across medical, social science, and engineering disciplines.

• Teaching Excellence Award for Innovative Practises (Student Union, 2024)
• NIHR Global Health Research Group funding (£3M)
• Extensive media coverage including BBC News, The Telegraph, and Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time

Beattie supervises 11 research students across air pollution health effects, Malawi WASH interventions, and solid waste management. Her grant portfolio includes major NIHR projects on adolescent health in Malawi (2022-2026) and urban air pollution from wood-burning stoves (2021-2025). As an external examiner for University of Salford MSc programs and PhD viva examiner, she maintains significant professional engagement.

She leads research teams across three continents, including the Malawi-based Adolescent Health and Wellbeing consortium and Nigeria-focused waste management collaborations. Her laboratory work involves microbial ecology analysis of Legionella in compost environments using GFM Gas Monitoring equipment, while field teams implement community interventions in rural Malawian districts.