About

Beth’s first degree was in Civil Engineering at Sheffield City Polytechnic. She then carried out three years research into Urban Drainage at Sheffield Hallam University and completed a PhD investigating the performance of combined sewer overflow screens in 1995.

She joined Hallam as a lecturer in 1996 teaching Hydraulics and Water Engineering and she managed the Environmental Management degree course for four years. She completed a PGCE in further and higher education in 1998 and an MSc in Urban Regeneration in 2005.

Beth was the programme leader for the urban and regional environment programme for seven years working closely with course leaders, module leaders and support staff to ensure a high quality student experience.

For three years she was the Quality and Standards Management and Enhancement (QSME) Lead in the Department working with module and course leaders and other staff within the college to ensure quality and standards were maintained and enhanced.

Teaching

Beth teaches across a wide range of different modules on the Geography, Environmental Science, Architecture and Architectural Technology courses.  She is also a personal tutor to students on the Environmental Science course and supervises undergraduate final year dissertations.  A lot of Beth’s teaching involves practical laboratory or fieldwork which means she works closely with technical and support staff.  Activities include soil and water sampling and analysis, river gauging, structural analysis and investigating material properties.

Research

Beth is currently working on ways to enhance the student experience which include the development of laboratory and fieldwork activities.

Publications

MEEDS B, BALMFORTH D J and THOMPSON B, ‘Performance of Screens in Controlling Aesthetic Pollutants’, 7th International Conference on Urban Storm Drainage, Hanover, Germany, September 1996

MEEDS B and BALMFORTH D J, ‘Full-Scale Testing of Mechanically Raked Bar Screens’, Journal of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, Vol 9, No. 6, December 1995

RIDING E, BALMFORTH D J and WALSH A M, ‘Monitoring the Performance of Screens at Combined Sewer Overflows’, Report no. UM 1433, WRc plc., April 1994

Other activities

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
First Aid Trained