James Bonner, PhD student in the Department of Accounting and Finance, attended a PhD workshop at St Andrews University on February 7, which he travelled to using sustainable transport- namely train and bike.
He explained, "I have some involvement with the Sustainability Strathclyde group, part of the estates team at the university. Our department has recently taken on the Green Impact challenge being run by the Sustainability team, and I thought my experiences was a good way of aligning with some of its aims.
"The event at St Andrews University - 'Ethnography for non-Anthropologists' - organised by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences - was to learn about some of the techniques and uses of ethnographic writing in academic research, a method of studying people and cultures through observation to convey the point of view and context of a specific group or individual.
While this is an approach mostly used by anthropologists and sociologists and perhaps not one generally associated with accounting research, James said, "It indicates the interdisciplinary nature of my work, , and my interest in understanding various methods and techniques that could be relevant to my research on water access in rural communities in Malawi."
On using 'green' transport to attend the workshop, James added, "Not only had I undertaken a more sustainable means of travel that aligned with my institution and department's recent increased commitment to sustainability practice by staff and students, but I had enjoyed what also had been a fun and memorable experience."