ABOUT

My interdisciplinary research draws on geography, psychology, and social science and I have a longstanding interest in using creative and innovative methods to engage diverse publics. I am particularly interested in intergenerational research and the potential of creative methods to help people connect with nature and articulate intangible relationships with their environments.

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I am now based at Exeter University, exploring public engagement around underground heat storage as part of the PUSH-IT project.

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I recently led UKRI funded project, ‘Understanding Older people’s PerspecTives and Imaginaries of Climate change (OPTIC): emplaced creativity to improve environments for healthy ageing’ together with colleagues in the Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research, the Centre for Innovative Ageing, and the School of Geography. The project used creative methods (comics, mobile interviews, video) with intergenerational groups to understand older people’s climate change perceptions, imaginaries and behaviours. We are now co-creating an intergenerational activity pack with schools, care homes and other others. For more information, see www.climatecomic.co.uk. 

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I hold a BA in Geography (University of Oxford), MSc in the Science of Natural Hazards (University of Bristol) and PhD in Psychology (Cardiff University). I completed my PhD in 2013 using a mixed-methods, mental-models approach to explore public and expert perceptions of sea-level change on the Severn Estuary. I then held two post-doctoral positions in the School of Psychology at Cardiff University. An NSF-funded project (with UCSB Santa Barbara) used deliberative workshops and roleplay to explore public perceptions of shale gas development in the UK and USA, while NERC-funded CoastWEB used in-depth mobile interviews to better understand the connections between coastal habitats and human health and wellbeing. At Swansea University (2020-24) I worked in the Freshwater Interdisciplinary Research and Engagement (FIRE) Lab in Biosciences. This work included comic creation, poetry, schools engagement, stakeholder interviews and surveys, to connect and explore people’s relationships with freshwater environments. I joined The Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research in September 2022 before moving to Exeter University in May 2024.