2012 PhD, Newcastle University
2007 MA Human Geography Research, Newcastle University
2006 Bsc (Hons)Open University
Association of American Geographers
>Social exclusion and digital technologies
>Care and welfare economies and geographies
>Friendship and informal community networks
>Lived experience and the social exclusion of older people and carers
>Household care/work practices: intersections of gender,class and generation
I am a qualitative social geographer, interested in home and community based socio-economic practice. My Masters research considered the effects of retail regeneration on older women’s sense of place in a former mining community in the North East of England. My social geography PhD is nearing completion and draws on feminist, post-structuralist and phenomenological insights to understand the relational context of choice and constraint for carers of older people across a range of care economies in Tyne and Wear, within the policy context of personalisation.
My interest in the social exclusion of older people, and changing work and welfare practices within marginalised communities is being developed in my role as Social Science Researcher (with Ranald Richardson and Graeme Mearns) within SiDE (Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy) - a multi-disciplinary EPSRC funded £12m Digital Hub which is exploring how digital technology can be used to combat social exclusion.
I have assisted on various research projects within CURDS (Centre for Urban and Regional Development).
I have acted as Teaching Assistant on undergraduate modules ‘Social Inclusion and Spatial Justice’ and ‘Social Geographies’ in the School of GPS