Megan Crawford
megan crawford

Dr Megan Crawford

Lecturer

 0131 455 4605

  M.Crawford@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

I work in Data Science and Scenario Planning. My research looks into how individuals and organisations frame and make decisions about the future (biases), structured group techniques (optimisation), and strategy development (impact), with a specialisation in AI integration. My work takes behavioural and complexity science approaches that aim at advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. I earned my PhD in Management Science at the University of Strathclyde, MSc in Behavioural & Economic Sciences at Warwick University, and joint BAs in Cognitive Psychology and Philosophy from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.

I am Principal Investigator of research lab, Futures and Analytics Research (FAR) Hub, and Deputy Lead of Enterprise Data Intelligence & Analytics in the Business School's newest research centre, Centre for Business Innovations and Sustainable Solutions (CBISS). In 2023, our team secured membership to the prestigious Turing University Network, part of the Alan Turing Institute (the UK's National Institute for AI and Data Science), where I serve as Turing Academic Liaison for the Business School.

Open to doctoral supervision.

School

Research Groups

Themes

Research Areas

News

Events

Esteem

Advisory panels and expert committees or witness

  • Early Career Academic Representative - Research & Innovation Committee (Advisory Board)
  • Co-lead for Centre for Business Innovations and Sustainable Solutions (CBISS)
  • Deputy Research Lead - SOE Group (TBS)
  • SOE Group Representative - Enterprise Action Group (Advisory Board)
  • TBS Liaison for Turing University Network Steering Group
  • Member of "Equality, Equity, Diversit, and Inclusion" Advisory Group (TBS) - AACSB accreditation
  • Co-founder of Equalities and Human Rights Advisory Group - for Audit Scotland

 

Conference Organising Activity

  • Conference Co-organiser - "Scenario Planning and Foresight" (December 2025)
  • Co-organiser and Chair of Panel on "Immigration Stories of Success from Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurs & Talent", Scottish Ethnic Minority Talent (SEMT) Summit, Edinburgh (October 2024)
  • Member of Organising Team - Migrants Resource Fair (October 2023)

 

Editorial Activity

  • Invited to Editorial Board for Futures and Foresight Science peer-reviewed journal
  • Co-Editor of Special Issue - "Scenario Planning for Strategic Decision-Making, Learning, and Managing Uncertainty"
  • Lead Editor Edward Elgar Publishing - "Improving and Enhancing Scenario Planning" book (502pp, 2025)

 

Fellowships and Awards

  • Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)

 

Grant Funding Panel Member

  • Committee Member for Data Challenge 2025 - Data Skills Gateway (March/October 2025)

 

Invited Speaker

  • Guest Lecturer - "Scenario Planning and Foresight in the 21st Century", Decision Science and Management Engineering, Instituto Superior T茅cnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
  • Invited Expert Panellist - "Ask the AI" Scottish AI Summit (March 2024)
  • Invited Speaker Special Session - "Scenarios for Tomorrow project" for the Scenario Planning and Foresight conference (July 2023)
  • Keynote speaker - "There's No Such Thing As An Unbiased Future" for Women In Data Science conference (London)
  • Invited Speaker COVID researcher - "Why This Science and not That Science?" for Question, Explore, Discover conference (QED)
  • Invited Expert Panellist - "When opinion displaces scientific authority: (Don鈥檛) follow the science" for International Humanist Conference
  • Keynote Speaker - "The Future of Regional Port Development" for the Corpus Christi Regional Economic Development Corporation (Texas)
  • Invited Speaker COVID researcher - "Planning Within Crisis: A Virtual Town Hall on COVID19 Scenarios" for Insights Association

 

Membership of Professional Body

  • Member - British International Studies Association (BISA)
  • Member - Diverse AI
  • Member - Women in AI
  • Member - British Academy of Management (BAM)

 

Public/Community Engagement

  • Co-organiser - "Never Going Back: Exploring Historical LGBT Discrimination" documentary screening and event at the Being Human Festival (November 2025)
  • Co-organiser - "Living with AI" MOOC for Scottish AI Alliance and Heriot-Watt University
  • Project lead - "Futures of Scotland: Post-COVID Recovery" event hosted in COP26 (Scotland)

 

Research Degree External Examining

  • External Examiner PhD - "Negotiating is More Than Bargaining鈥攖he Perceptions and Behaviours of Negotiators Prior to the Negotiation Process and Their Impacts on Negotiation Outcomes and Performance Evaluation" at University of Aberdeen

 

Reviewing

  • Book Proposal Reviewer - Routleg
  • Book Proposal Reviewer - Bloomsbury
  • Journal reviewer - Futures & Foresight Science
  • Journal reviewer - European Journal of Operational Research (CABS 4)
  • Journal reviewer - Futures (CABS 2)
  • Journal reviewer - World Futures Review
  • Journal reviewer - International Journal of Forecasting (CABS 3)
  • Journal reviewer - Technological Forecasting and Social Change (CABS 3)
  • Journal reviewer - Behavioral Economics Guide
  • Journal reviewer - Cogent Journals (CABS 1)

 

Non-Napier PhD or MSc by Research supervisions

  • External Supervisor PhD - "AI as a Tool for Assessment and Learning in the Classroom" at Mary Immaculate College, Ireland
  • External Supervisor PhD - "How the culture of bank's regulatory risk and compliance affects anti-money laundering officers' job satisfaction" at Northumbria University
  • External Supervisor PhD - "First Memory: Most outstanding topics in Spanish and English speaking populations" at Universidad Maim贸nides and Harvard University