Now, she has moved to Dunedin to carry out a two-year project running in parallel.
The energy cultures project is funded by a $1.05 million grant from the Foundation for Research Science and Technology. It draws on expertise from several departments, including consumer psychology, economic, physics, law and sociology-human geography, to examine what drives people's energy use at home and what might influence them to become more energy efficient.
Dr Ford, who has spent the past seven years studying at Oxford University, said the multi-disciplinary aspect of the work had attracted her.
An engineer, she was side-tracked into energy studies in her fourth year as an undergraduate when she was randomly assigned a project about energy use and behaviour modification.
"I just loved it. My supervisor [suggested] I stay on and do a PhD in that field, and I did."
She heard about the Dunedin research at a conference on energy behaviour and climate change in the United States last year.
"It seems like they were doing some really interesting research which married up quite well with what I was already doing."
After several emails and a visit to Oxford by energy cultures project co-leaders Dr Janet Stephenson and Prof Rob Lawson, funding was found to employ Dr Ford, Dr Stephenson, director of the university's centre for sustainability: agriculture, food, energy and environment, said.
"We saw huge potential in the skills Becky brought with her."
Dr Ford is two months into her study, looking at how to use technology such as smart meters to give householders useful information which might get them excited and motivated about cutting energy use, particularly electricity consumption.
If householders chose to use higher than average quantities of electricity provided, that was their decision, she said. But a survey she had carried out in the UK showed 98% of respondents needed to or wanted to reduce their energy consumption. However, about 60% of them did not think they would be able to.
Smart meters gave "real time" information about electricity consumption but people did not know what to do with the information, Dr Ford said.
"That's one of the things I am looking into - how to provide people with actionable advice, really good advice, which lets them take that next step."
