My doctoral work employed sociological approaches to better understanding how people seek to influence coastal planning exercises that determine whether or not their homes will be defended from rising seas.
My introduction to the field came through my own experience of leading a campaign that sought change a policy proposed for where I lived. Between 2010 and 2013 I worked as a researcher on an EU FP7 project ‘Solutions for Environmental Contrasts in Coastal Areas’ (SECOA), devoted to the development of analyses of environmental conflicts in coastal areas, future scenarios, and policy responses to these.
I am published on the social justice implications of coastal change, in which I retain a research interest, and have provided specialist commentary for national print and broadcast media.
Besides academic pursuits I have worked extensively as a specialist consultant in communications within government and academia – with a particular interest in secondary, tertiary and management education. Since 2012 I have combined this with working as a professional painter, exhibiting in the UK and United States and selling to collectors all over the world.
I am committed to tertiary education not simply as a route to employability but also as a means of making life more interesting and fulfilling.
I completed my Masters degree in Work Based Learning in 2006, and in 2014 was awarded my Doctorate - undertaken at the Working Lives Research Institute at London Metropolitan University.