Dr Ollie Jay
Researcher
Current guidance warns against electric fan use in heatwaves without any supporting evidence. The current Project, ‘Reducing the risk of heat-related morbidity and mortality during extreme heat events‘ aims to identify how fans and other parallel low-resource strategies can reduce the risk of heat-related illness in the most vulnerable during simulated hot/humid and very hot/dry heat wave conditions. This information will be used to develop simple heat adaptation strategies that also mitigate unsustainable energy demands and the destructive environmental impact of air conditioning.
Ollie Jay is a Senior Lecturer in Thermoregulatory Physiology, and Director of the Thermal Ergonomics Laboratory, in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney. Prior to moving to Australia in January 2014, he was a tenured Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada (2008-2013). Originally from the UK, he obtained his PhD in Thermal Physiology from Loughborough University in 2002, which was then followed 4½ years of international postdoctoral research experience at Simon Fraser University (2003-05) and the University of Ottawa (2005-08). His research activities primarily focus on developing a better understanding of the physiological and physical factors that determine human heat strain and the associated risk of heat-related health problems during work and/or physical activity, as well as among the general population during heat waves.