My work as a researcher is driven by a conviction that gathering understandings of the world at large helps shape efforts to make it better. Furthermore, I believe that good research gains its efficacy by being communicated well. These core beliefs have shaped my career to date.
Cities, people and smart technology
I worked a freelance researcher (2019) for Nesta's Digital Social Innovation project, to research and write a report on positive future scenarios for digital social innovation in cities. The outputs comprise of ten persona based case studies, a public facing document to engage readers in our findings, and a spoken contribution to end of project event.
I was a Research Associate for Smart Cities in the Making: Learning from Milton Keynes, a two and a half year (2017-2019) ESRC funded project the aim of which was to examine a city in the process of it’s efforts to become smarter. The project was concerned with the difference smart city technologies make to social difference and I followed within two of the five work packages: first by looking at the way citizens become involved in the emergence of smart city technologies, and second in the way that those technologies embed particular versions of social difference as a consequence of the way they operate. I worked on the project's impact strategy, contributing to our engagingsmartcities.org toolkit, writing public facing reports and speaking at public events including on BBC Radio 4's Thinking Allowed.
Prior to this (2016), I was a Research Associate on a the Making Meaningful Metrics project, a speculative project funded by an internal seedcorn competition which sought to generate interdisciplinary research. The project used focus groups and Rich Picture methodology to investigate citizen engagement with transport metrics. I also contributed to the research and design for a research centre funding bid concerning ways of being in a digital age.
Other social research and public engagement
As a Research Associate, I contributed to the Ramble London public engagement project. Ramble London's intention is to make the historical geography research of Prof. Richard Dennis accessible to the wider public using guided walks.
I was a Research Associate on London Dharma (2014), a project examining the articulation of the Buddhist faith in contemporary London. Employing an urban ethnography approach, we set out to understand how, as faith relatively new to the UK, Buddhism was becoming integrated into the material and cultural life of the city.
My PhD (2009-2014) examined how the conservation of the seeds of food plants serves as a practice which contributes to the bringing about of food security. Using ethnographic and interview research techniques, I assembled studies of three core seed banks located in the UK and overseas. This project aimed to examine how plant genetic resource conservation acts as a way of engendering food security through the creation of non-human resources for resilience.
Cities, people and smart technology
I worked a freelance researcher (2019) for Nesta's Digital Social Innovation project, to research and write a report on positive future scenarios for digital social innovation in cities. The outputs comprise of ten persona based case studies, a public facing document to engage readers in our findings, and a spoken contribution to end of project event.
I was a Research Associate for Smart Cities in the Making: Learning from Milton Keynes, a two and a half year (2017-2019) ESRC funded project the aim of which was to examine a city in the process of it’s efforts to become smarter. The project was concerned with the difference smart city technologies make to social difference and I followed within two of the five work packages: first by looking at the way citizens become involved in the emergence of smart city technologies, and second in the way that those technologies embed particular versions of social difference as a consequence of the way they operate. I worked on the project's impact strategy, contributing to our engagingsmartcities.org toolkit, writing public facing reports and speaking at public events including on BBC Radio 4's Thinking Allowed.
Prior to this (2016), I was a Research Associate on a the Making Meaningful Metrics project, a speculative project funded by an internal seedcorn competition which sought to generate interdisciplinary research. The project used focus groups and Rich Picture methodology to investigate citizen engagement with transport metrics. I also contributed to the research and design for a research centre funding bid concerning ways of being in a digital age.
Other social research and public engagement
As a Research Associate, I contributed to the Ramble London public engagement project. Ramble London's intention is to make the historical geography research of Prof. Richard Dennis accessible to the wider public using guided walks.
I was a Research Associate on London Dharma (2014), a project examining the articulation of the Buddhist faith in contemporary London. Employing an urban ethnography approach, we set out to understand how, as faith relatively new to the UK, Buddhism was becoming integrated into the material and cultural life of the city.
My PhD (2009-2014) examined how the conservation of the seeds of food plants serves as a practice which contributes to the bringing about of food security. Using ethnographic and interview research techniques, I assembled studies of three core seed banks located in the UK and overseas. This project aimed to examine how plant genetic resource conservation acts as a way of engendering food security through the creation of non-human resources for resilience.
