Elizabeth’s route into transport psychology wasn’t a straight one. Starting out in geography, she moved into transport planning before discovering her fascination with the human side of mobility — the decisions, behaviours, and emotions that shape how people travel.
“What’s always driven me is the people behind transport systems — how they make decisions, how they manage risk, and how we can help them travel more safely,” she says.
That focus on people led her to Cranfield, where she completed her PhD, investigating how pre-driver education can reduce risk for young and novice drivers. The experience, she says, built on her two decades of professional insight and gave her the academic foundation to push her research even further.
“I came to Cranfield with years of experience in commissioning research,” she explains. “But Cranfield gave me the confidence and tools to grow as an independent researcher — to shape projects that can make a tangible difference to people’s lives.”
A national voice for safer roads
At the RAC Foundation, Elizabeth leads one of the UK’s most respected transport research programmes, spanning taxation, mobility, road safety, and environmental issues. She has presented evidence to Parliament, advised government on future transport policy, and regularly delivers keynote addresses at national conferences.
Her work has earned widespread recognition — including awards from the Transport Planning Society and De Havilland for her research and campaigning. But perhaps the clearest example of her impact is DriveFit, the innovative intervention she developed as part of her Cranfield PhD.
The 40-minute film and interactive online workshop use behavioural psychology to help young drivers recognise and manage risk behind the wheel. In 2023, DriveFit won a prestigious Prince Michael International Road Safety Award, recognising its potential to save lives by changing attitudes before new drivers even take to the road.
“DriveFit is about engaging young people in a meaningful way — helping them understand their own behaviour and giving them the tools to make safer choices,” Elizabeth says. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see the research being used in practice.”
Recognition and reflection
Winning Cranfield’s Excellence in Achievement Award for Recent Safety Graduates is, Elizabeth admits, both humbling and motivating.
“Coming from outside the aerospace sector, it’s encouraging to know that my work is recognised and valued more widely,” she says. “The award highlights how applied research work that addresses real challenges can reach across industries and make a difference.”
She hopes her success will inspire others to see research not as an academic exercise, but as a catalyst for change. “I’d love for early-career researchers to see that their ideas can have impact well beyond their discipline,” she adds.
Although she studied part-time and remotely, Elizabeth says the Cranfield experience gave her far more than a qualification. It provided a structure for growth, and the confidence to expand her influence.
“Even though most of my studies were done remotely, the time I spent on campus — in the library, attending lectures, talking with my supervisor was transformative,” she says. “It broadened my perspective and gave me the space to think deeply about how my work could create value.”
Advice for the next generation
Asked what she would tell today’s graduates, Elizabeth pauses only briefly before answering. “Don’t be afraid to carve your own path,” she says. “Success isn’t always about following a straight line. The most rewarding careers are built not just on what you know, but on how you share that knowledge and work with others to make a difference.”
Elizabeth’s journey from geographer to award-winning researcher, from student to national policymaker exemplifies what Cranfield stands for: research that connects ideas to outcomes, and knowledge to impact. Her work continues to shape the future of mobility and safety, proving that when research is driven by purpose, its influence can stretch far beyond the confines of academia and even beyond the sector it began in.
