Research Student
Academic Division: Civil Engineering
Research group: Structures
Email: jwg39@eng.cam.ac.uk
Research interests
Understanding the Process of Shelter Project Design in Displacement.
Jennifer’s research focuses on the strategic decisions behind shelter projects that occur as a result of post-conflict and post-disaster displacement situations. This research analyses shelter response on a global scale and includes discussions with governments, international NGOs, Global Cluster Groups, private sector, academia, and beneficiaries of shelter. In 2018, she was appointed the Design Fellow for the Exhibition of 1851 to develop a software-based method of information management for shelter projects in post-crisis situations. In 2021, she was awarded the Royal Charter International Researcher Award from the Worshipful Company of Constructors and BRE, and selected as one of McKinsey Next Generation Women Leaders.
Publications
Breeze, M.* and Ward-George, J.* (2021) From the local to the general: the architecture of evaluating emergency shelter responses. In Inanc, G. & Lewis, T. (Ed.) Asia and the Pacific' in Forced Displacement and NGOs in Asia and the Pacific. Routledge.
Ward-George, J. (2021) 'Understanding Process vs. Product in the Shelter and Settlements Sector: A Reflection'. [Special Issue] Disaster Prevention and Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-03-2021-0113
Ward-George, J., Rule, A., Maynard, V., and Fattal, L. (2021) 'Ensuring Participation of Affected Populations in Decision-Making' in Roadmap for Research: A Collaborative Research Framework for Humanitarian Shelter and Settlements Assistance. InterAction. https://www.interaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Roadmap-for-Research_96ppi.pdf
Ward-George, J. (2020) “Could you shelter in 3.5m2?” Conversations, Centre for Geopolitics, Cambridge. https://centreforgeopolitics.org/could-you-shelterinplace-in-only-3-5m2/
Ward George, J. and Hodgkin, D. (2020) “Invisibility and virality in urban shelter response” Forced Migration Review: Cities and Towns, Issue 63. Oxford. https://www.fmreview.org/cities/wardgeorge-hodgkin
Talks
“The Politics of Emergency Shelter”, Panelists: Jennifer Ward George, Sanj Srikanthan (CEO ShelterBox), Tom Newby (Former Head of Humanitarian, CARE International UK), Mark Breeze (DoS Architecture, St John's College), Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge, May 2020.
‘The Shelter Schema: Rationalizing Design Decisions in Shelter Projects’, Jennifer Ward George, New and Visiting Scholars Forum, Cambridge, March 2020
‘Invisibility and Virality in Shelter Projects’, Jennifer Ward George, Engineering Structures Seminar Series, Department of Engineering, February 2020
"Finding Shelter, Defining Shelter", chaired by Dr Mark Breeze for his film launch ‘Shelter without Shelter’ at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas. Panelists included Dr Tom Scott-Smith, Dr Georgia Cole, Jennifer Ward George, and Dunya Habash. https://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/newsandawards/news-folder/festivalofideasglobalhumanmovement
‘The Shelter Schema’, Jennifer Ward George, Alumni Talk at Peterhouse, June 2019
Other positions
Co-Chair, Sustainable Shelter Group, Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement
https://www.humanmovement.cam.ac.uk/Research/cedg
Royal Charter International Research Award Holder, Worshipful Company of Constructors and BRE (2020 - 2022)
Policy Advisor, Royal Academy of Engineering (2021 - 2022)
Design Fellow, Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 (2018 - 2021)
Steering Group Member, Information, Education, Communication (IEC) Materials, IOM (2018 - 2021)
President, Peterhouse MCR, (2020-21)
Secretary, Cambridge University Polo Club, (2020-21)
Biography
Jennifer studied Project Management for Construction at The Bartlett, UCL before joining the University of Cambridge in September 2017. She completed an MRes in Future Infrastructure and the Built Environment and is now in the second year of her PhD.
Jennifer's research focuses on the design of shelter for displacement under the supervision of Dr John Orr and Professor Peter Guthrie, and is EPSRC funded. She was also the 2018 Design Fellow for the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, who fund the research and development costs of her project: The Shelter Schema. Finally, she is sponsored in her research by the Worshipful Company of Constructors and BRE through the Royal Charter International Researcher Award.