Dr Lisa Thomas

Assistant Professor

Department: Psychology

Lisa is Associate Director of the Psychology and Communication Technology (PaCT) Research Group, chair of the Psychology Department's Athena Swan team, and Fellow of the HEA.

She has been a Senior Researcher for three successive multidisciplinary EPSRC projects: IMPRINTS, ReelLives and DERC. IMPRINTS assessed the UK publics' intentions to engage with identity management technologies of the future. ReelLives explored the ways in which individuals could take ownership of their digital identity. DERC aimed to improve digital provisions for the volunteering community in the North East.

Lisa completed a BA (Hons) in Psychology from the University of Sheffield in 2004 and went on to study for an MSc in Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey in 2006. Her doctoral thesis, completed at Northumbria University in 2011, explored perceptions of Location-Based Services, refining a theoretical model to predict intentions to use this emerging technology in various community groups.

Email Lisa

Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Psychology and Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
- The role of technologies in life transitions
- Identity
- Self-presentation online and authenticity

Student community and wellbeing

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
What was the experience of home-working for UK women during the pandemic, and how did this impact future working preferences?: Submission to the Home-based Working Select Committee , Thomas, L., Elsey, V. 21 May 2025
Information work and digital support during the perinatal period: Perspectives of mothers and healthcare professionals, Kemp, E., Sillence, E., Thomas, L. 16 Aug 2024, In: PLOS Digital Health
How queer hook-up/people nearby application (PNA) users navigate hybrid digital and local space in rural and urban areas: results from a multi-region qualitative scoping study in the United Kingdom (UK), Rawlings, R., Brown, G., Thomas, L., Coventry, L. 31 Dec 2023, AoIR2023, Association of Internet Researchers
Correction to: Exploring digital support for the student transition to university through questionable concepts (Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, (2022), 26, 1, (79-92), 10.1007/s00779-021-01570-z), Thomas, L., Vines, J., Briggs, P. 1 Feb 2022, In: Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
Exploring digital support for the student transition to university through questionable concepts, Thomas, L., Vines, J., Briggs, P. 1 Feb 2022, In: Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
The Digital Lives of Student Mothers: A Consideration of Technologies that Support or Erode the Student/Parent Boundary, Thomas, L., Talbot, C., Briggs, P. 1 Oct 2021, In: International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Student Loneliness: The Role of Social Media through Life Transitions, Thomas, L., Orme, E., Kerrigan, F. 1 Mar 2020, In: Computers and Education
Digital Design Considerations for Volunteer Recruitment: Making the Implicit Promises of Volunteering More Explicit, Thomas, L., Pritchard, G., Briggs, P. 5 Jun 2019, The 9th International Conference on C&T - Transforming Communities, ACM
Technology to Mediate Role Conflict in Motherhood, Thomas, L., Sillence, E., Elsey, V., Simpson, E., Moody, L. 2 May 2019, Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '19), New York, NY, USA, ACM
A Life Story in Three Parts: The Use of Triptychs to Make Sense of Personal Digital Data, Thomas, L., Farrow, E., Aylett, M., Briggs, P. 1 Aug 2018, In: Personal and Ubiquitous Computing

PGR Supervision

Richard Rawlings Hook-up app usage as (dis)connection among rural men who have sex with men (MSM):Para-ethnographic zine-production as reciprocal ‘assemblage’. Start Date: 24/04/2025