Eileen Wattam

Eileen is currently a research fellow on the VOME project as part of the Salford team. She has a BSc and postgraduate diploma in Town Planning Studies from the University of Cardiff and an MA in Urban Design from Oxford Brookes University. She also has a PGCE (further and adult education) specialising in the Built Environment from Bolton Institute of Further and Higher Education. In 2006 she gained an MPhil entitled, “Community-based urban regeneration and empowerment through Information and Communication Technology (ICT).” Currently she is near completion of her PhD at the University of Salford which investigates whether and how social media can contribute to community empowerment in the context of urban regeneration areas.

Prior to academia Eileen worked within the area of urban planning and regeneration. She has a specialist research interest in digital inclusion, community empowerment and social media. Her work on the VOME project has further developed her research interests in privacy and social media use with particular regard to potentially vulnerable and older age groups.