Group Lead Recognised in King's Birthday Honours

Prof Natasha Merat OBE

We're thrilled to share with you that our Academic lead, Prof Natasha Merat has been named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to future transport systems in the King's Birthday Honours list this week.

Professor Merat is an experimental psychologist who seeks to understand how road users interact with new technologies research group leader of the Human Factors and Safety Group in the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds.

She is responsible for the strategic direction of research conducted at Virtuocity, the University’s unique programme for city simulation and co-design, which includes a state-of-the-art driving simulator.

Professor Merat studies factors such as driver distraction and impairment and is an internationally recognised expert in studying human factors of highly automated vehicles.

“I am deeply honoured and humbled to have received this award. It was completely unexpected and I was in shock for quite a few minutes when the letter arrived a few Saturdays ago,” she said.

“I am grateful to be recognised for my contributions to future transport systems, in my role as a psychologist and human factors expert.

“I could not have done this without my amazing team. All I can say is that we have only just started, with lots of exciting and significant activities required in this space, to ensure these new forms of mobility are sustainable, accepted and safe to use.”

We're all incredibly proud of you Natasha!

Text courtesy of our University of Leeds colleagues, click here to find out more about other members of the University community who have received honours this week.