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Introduction
I am a senior interdisciplinary academic & internationally renowned voice of the many barriers faced by those underrepresented in science & in society; striving to eradicate systemic discrimination. Working in social justice & policy research I pioneered Embodied Inquiry to facilitate meaningful rapport, participation, co-production & connection on an authentic & deep level. My background includes chemistry, yoga teaching, somatic movement therapist, science teacher, education PhD & reader.
Additional affiliations
October 2019 - present
September 2012 - October 2019
September 2010 - September 2013
Education
September 2012 - July 2014
September 2007 - July 2008
September 2007 - December 2009
Publications
Publications (89)
Postgraduate study can be mentally, physically and emotionally challenging. The levels of anxiety and depression in postgraduate students are much higher than those in the general population, and isolation can also be a problem, especially for students who are marginalised due to gender, race, sexuality, disability or being a first-generation and/o...
Academic institutions are abelist. This, however, does not have to be the case. How do individuals involved in research management address this culture? In the context of the drastic changes in Higher Education since the 1990s, and an increasing emphasis on equality and inclusion, initiatives such as Athena Swan and the Race Equality Charter have l...
To write this article, Emily Draper and Jennifer Leigh from the International Women in Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC) network again joined forces with David Smith and asked dads working within the field of supramolecular chemistry to share experiences around parental leave.
Supramolecular chemistry has gone from strength to strength in recent decades, with its impact felt from catalysis to materials science to chemical biology. This Voices article, published to coincide with the 2022 Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry Group meeting at the University of Nottingham, UK, asks speakers from the meeting: what are the...
This commentary is a call to make the future of chemistry laboratories accessible and inclusive. We draw from research and lived experience to put forward a list of recommendations for laboratory-based teaching. Our authorial team includes undergraduate and postgraduate chemistry students, graduate teaching assistants, teaching-focused and traditio...
To write this article, we spoke to members of the supramolecular chemistry community, including the International Women in Supramolecular Chemistry network. We are not attributing anyone’s name to their story to protect their anonymity.
Low breastfeeding rates are driven by multiple bio-psycho-social factors. Experience of breastfeeding is known to differ by maternal demographic factors (age, education and ethnicity) but there is less recognition of factors such as neurodivergence. This review, prospectively registered with PROSPERO (registration number: CRD42021271465), systemati...
The international Women in Supramolecular Chemistry network believes that taking an area-specific approach effectively supports equality, diversity, and inclusion. Science lacks diversity, and this is intersectional. We share effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by triangulating findings from an online survey, a collaborative autoethnogra...
No matter your career stage, pregnancy in the lab raises complex questions — and definitive answers are hard to come by. In conversation with members of Women in Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC), we share our experience, discuss research into the challenges and move the conversation to the support needed by people who are pregnant. We conclude that...
This article reports on a study that followed up on an initial interdisciplinary project and focused specifically on the experiences of researchers involved in practice-based interdisciplinary research. We share an approach to research evaluation that focuses on the experiences of those conducting the research rather than the outputs. The study all...
Embodied inquiry is the process of using embodied approaches in order to study, explore or investigate a topic. But what does it actually mean to be 'embodied'? This book explores why and how we use our bodies in order to research, what an embodied approach brings to a research project, and the kinds of considerations that need to be taken into acc...
Introduction
Embodiment as a term is becoming widely used in mainstream society, and is generally associated with the physical body in some way. However, the definition of embodiment is more esoteric. It is defined by lexicographers as ‘a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling’ (Oxford Dictionary, 2019). As such it has no immediat...
Introduction
Dyslexia is the specific learning disability that is most often disclosed by students at university. First descriptions of difficulties with reading and writing date back to the mid to late 19th century, with the term ‘dyslexia’ being first introduced in 1862 (Soler, 2009). At the time, symptoms like difficulties with reading and word...
This article reports on a study with over 100 Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), 69 of whom were international GTAs. We explore their experiences of ‘cultural bumps’ in their transition into one UK University. Following the principles of practice-based enquiry, data collection combined interviews with data generated in workshops, including transc...
Diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI/EDI) are pressing issues in chemistry and the natural sciences. In this Essay we share how an area‐specific approach is “calling in” the community so that it can act to address EDI issues, and support those who are marginalised. Women In Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC) is an international network that aims to...
Marginalisation can be experienced for many intersectional reasons including race, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, and gender. This Essay sets out a field‐specific approach to supporting equality, diversity, and inclusion in supramolecular chemistry as pioneered by an international network of Women In Supramolecular Chemistry (WISC). WISC aims to „...
Background
With increasing reductions in funding for social care across many countries, the need to ensure that resources are used to best effect is becoming increasingly important, in particular for those with severe and complex needs.
Methods
In order to explore the outcomes and costs of skilled support for this group of people, quality of life...
There is much literature focused on supporting students diagnosed with learning difficulties within higher education, in particular those with dyslexia. However, there is relatively little that discusses perceptions of and support for academics who have been diagnosed with the same learning difficulties. Although statistics from the Higher Educatio...
This article draws from a collaboration between Rambert School of Dance, University of Kent, University College London Institute of Education and an anthropological filmmaker. Together we took a creative and embodied approach to teaching reflective practice within a conservatoire to second-year dance students. In this article, we explore where this...
This article draws from a collaboration between Rambert School of Dance, University of Kent, University College London Institute of Education and an anthropological filmmaker. Together we took a creative and embodied approach to teaching reflective practice within a conservatoire to second-year dance students. In this article, we explore where this...
Reflection is a vital part of learning, and yet in early childhood, research work on reflection is most commonly on that undertaken by teachers, and not children. This article draws from a participatory study showing how creative research methods and somatic movement enabled 22 children aged 4–11 to reflect on their experiences and document their r...
In this article I discuss how my background as a somatic movement therapist and educator has informed my identity and current work as a higher education (HE) researcher and academic developer, or teacher of HE. I explore what it means to come from a non-traditional home discipline, and to work in a non-unified field within academia. How does it imp...
Academia can be an uncomfortable place to work. Academics are examples of professionals who have multiple stresses and pressures. Being an academic is often a fundamental part of someone’s identity. Academia can be a cerebral, critical, competitive and judgmental environment. This chapter draws from a study using creative research methods with acad...
Dance education in the twenty-first century has started to shift with the evolution of contemporary dance techniques and the introduction of more holistic somatic practices into dance training. Nowadays, the idea of developing ‘professional self-sufficiency’ is at the heart of the learning experience for young dancers. We believe that in response t...
Dance education in the twenty-first century has started to shift with the evolution of contemporary dance techniques and the introduction of more holistic somatic practices into dance training. Nowadays, the idea of developing ‘professional self-sufficiency’ is at the heart of the learning experience for young dancers. We believe that in response t...
Due to the diversity of academics engaging with research into higher education, there is no single methodological approach or method that would embody higher education research. In this chapter, we put forward the case that this is a good thing and argue that higher education research can benefit from fusing existing methodological and theoretical...
"Embodiment" is a concept that crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries. However, it is a contested term, and the literature is fragmented, particularly within Higher Education. This has resulted in silos of work that are not easily able to draw on previous or related knowledge in order to support and progress understanding. Conversations on Emb...
Academia can be a challenging place to work and academics who have a disability, neurodiversity or chronic illness are further disadvantaged, as non-stereotypical ways of working are not necessarily supported or catered for. The remit of this paper is to provide practical ideas and recommendations to address accessibility issues in events and confe...
Recent coverage in higher education newspapers and social media platforms implies that chronic conditions, illnesses and disabilities are becoming more prominent amongst academics. Changes to funding structures, increased globalisation, marketisation and bureaucratisation of higher education have resulted in a performance-driven working environment...
Background:
Quality of life of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has been found to primarily depend on whether staff are providing facilitative and enabling support that helps to compensate for severity of disability. Managers have a key role in facilitating staff to provide such support.
Method:
Qualitative interviews were...
We report the feasibility of a novel, school-based intervention, coined ‘Imagining Autism’, in which children with autism engage with drama practitioners though participatory play and improvisation in a themed multi-sensory ‘pod’ resembling a portable, tent-like structure. A total of 22 children, aged 7–12 years, from three UK schools engaged in th...
Twenty-two children aged 4–11 attended sessions of Somatic Movement Education (incorporating developmental play and movement patterns). They were given the opportunity to express their emotions through movement, and to develop their understanding and processing of emotion through pair work, group work, journaling, mark-making and reflections as par...
Academic and professional development is widely regarded as important for academics. The experience of it is explored in this paper through phenomenological interviews with academic developers and participants on one programme in a UK Higher Education Institution. The importance of a credible, holistic approach to academic and professional developm...
This paper gives an embodied perspective on the use of judgements of reflective practice and reflective writing for professional development in Higher Education. Programmes for professional development in Higher Education and recognition processes for academics have become prevalent in the UK and internationally. These programmes and processes ofte...
Background
People with severe and profound intellectual disabilities often spend substantial time isolated and disengaged. The nature and quality of the support appears to be important in determining quality of life.Methods
Structured observations and staff questionnaires were used to explore the quality of life and quality of support for 110 peopl...
Part-time teachers form an increasingly large part of the workforce within the Academy, in the UK and internationally. They can be employed on sessional or hourly-paid lecturer contracts, and as casual employees are not always able to access professional or academic development and support that is available for other employees. In 2013/14, there ha...
Part-time teachers in higher education form a diverse group, and one that is increasing as employment patterns change. These individuals are often under-supported, with no systematic access to training or development. A survey was administered to part-time teachers at one University exploring the group demographics and how they perceived their oppo...
Although widely employed in professional practice of all kinds, ‘reflection’ and ‘reflective practice’ can be considered ‘success words’. That is, they elicit positive and supportive responses and yet the concepts are vague, ill-defined, contradictory and reflective skills can be hard to teach. Using examples from education and somatic movement the...