I have been a lecturer in the School of Environmental Sciences at the Univeristy of East Anglia since April 2016, and a member of the 3S (Science, Society & Sustainability) Research Group since 2011. I am an environmental geographer and science & technology studies scholar interested in the relationships between science, democracy and the environment. My research is concerned with diverse forms of public engagement with environmental issues and emerging technologies, and the ways in which institutions respond (or not) to public perspectives and actions. Recent projects include a mapping of public engagement with the use of algorithms in public service provision in the UK, and responsible innovation in relation to sustainable waste water management in the UK. I am currently deputy director of the UK Energy Research Centre's Public Engagement Observatory, continuing our work on mapping public engagement with energy and climate in the UK.

My PhD thesis, undertaken at the University of East Anglia and completed in 2014, looked at organisational learning from and about public participation in the UK Government-funded body Sciencewise. From January 2015 - March 2016 I was a senior research associatte at the University of East Anglia, working with Jason Chilvers and Tom Hargreaves on a Systemic participation and decision making in UK energy transitions, a UKERC-funded project which involved mapping diverse forms of public participation around the UK energy system 2010-2015, and experimenting with new approaches to public engagement. 

I teach on the Geography BA programme as well as contributing to social science methods teaching and other social science topics on undergraduate and master's modules in the School of Environmental Sciences.

I am currently collaboratively supervise 7 PhD researchers conducting projects relating to climate policy, public engagement, intersectionality, waste, smart homes and online disinformation.

I am currently chair of the Science Faculty Research Ethics Committee at the University of East Anglia and have expertise in research ethics relating to research with human participants, research with a potential to affect the environment, and research with digital methods and tools. 

For more information on my current research and teaching, as well as talks and policy engagement, please see my personal website. 

Current project:

My current work is as part of the UK Energy Research Centre's Public Engagement Observatory of which I am the deputy director. In the Observatory we are mapping public engagement with energy and climate in the UK, experimenting with new approaches to public engagement in this space, and developing new ways to communicate our findings with a range of different actors and organisations.  

Research interests: Public participation and engagement; science policy; science & technology studies; human geography; democracy; organisational learning; reflexivity; co-production; experimentation;  energy politics; democratic innovation; sustainable innovation.

Research group: Science, Society & Sustainability (3S) group