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I started my journey with LSBU as a student, in 2000, undertaking the MSc Development Studies degree. Since graduating in 2003, I have now been teaching at LSBU for two decades. Currently, I am the Senior Lecturer / Course Director for the MSc Development Studies / MSc Refugee Studies.
In parallel to teaching, I also continue to work as a Humanitarian Aid and Development Worker, having previously worked with several international NGOs and donor organisations including, Comic Relief, Action Against Hunger UK, Africa Educational Trust, and the Start Network, across Africa and Southeast Asia.
I am also a qualified mindfulness trainer, from the Centre for Mindfulness Research & Practice (CMRP) at the University of Bangor, with experience as a Training Assistant with the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts, for their 9-day teacher training practicum course. These experiences led me to become the Project Leader for a three-year, pioneering mindfulness and wellbeing project, focused on helping humanitarian aid workers dealing with stress and trauma, as part of the UK government-funded Disasters & Emergency Preparedness Programme, across Thailand, Pakistan, and the Philippines.
My teaching is therefore informed by real-world experience and covers a broad range of core themes: the history of development work and the practical, applied, and operational aspects of global humanitarian work. In leading the Research Methods module for MSc students, supervising dissertations, as well as supporting PhD students, for over a decade, I have a keen interest in qualitative research methodology, especially related to locally focused participatory and emergency-based needs analysis. Mindful self-awareness in the research process is also a key interest, which I have aligned within my teaching pedagogy, as well as presented at the Vitae Conference and the 1st Postgraduate Conference on the Mental Health & Wellbeing of Postgraduate Researchers (2019).
In addition to my teaching duties, I am also the Co-Chair for the Sustainability Research Group at LSBU, working on advocating the need for expanding the definition of sustainability and in promoting initiatives, research, and innovations, and expanding the group within, and beyond, LSBU.
As part of developing real-world impact and building upon on my development and humanitarian teaching experience with LSBU, I am also currently a consultant with the United Nations Foundation. This involves designing and developing mindfulness-based wellbeing programmes for their Crisis Response Working Group, comprising the key UN organisations (including, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNDP, WHO, etc.).
Additionally, I am also working on preliminary PhD research on developing Mindful Organizations and embodied leadership within the humanitarian and development sectors.
New York University - Inner MBA (in progress) 2020 - 2021
Bangor University, Wales - MSc Teaching Mindfulness Based Courses 2011 - 2018
London South Bank University - MSc Development Studies 2000 - 2003
University of Southampton – BSc Geology with Oceanography 1994 - 1997
This innovative role at ACF-UK was linked into the Start Network’s 3 year Transforming Surge Capacity programme to improve humanitarian responses during disasters and emergencies.
My role involved designing project interventions, delivering training, donor liaison (DFID, USAID, ECHO, DFATD), preparing funding proposals, and developing, organising, and reporting on multi-partner consortiums for humanitarian and development interventions globally.
My role involved researching trusts, foundations, and other major donors, both UK and internationally, and writing funding proposals to secure matched and unrestricted funding.
The position involved writing funding proposals to secure matched and unrestricted funding, and in coordinating a variety of projects within the Somali Integrated Secondary Education & Development (SISED) programme supported by the European Union. (F/T)
Key responsibilities as Senior Administrator include producing regular financial and monitoring reports for committees, responsible for administering and reporting on an £8.8M DFID Commonwealth Education Fund grant and taking a lead role in the development of knowledge management systems within the department. Additionally, the post involved line management and supervision duties, to ensure that all aspects of administrative support within the team is provided. (F/T)
| Funder | Year won | Project | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ASU Virtual Programs | Principal Investigator |
| Proposal | Project | Role | Funder | Status | Status last updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What are the best ways to reduce burnout? | What are the best ways to reduce burnout? | Principal Investigator | Medical Research Council (MRC) | OPEN In preparation | Mar 2023 |
| ASU Virtual Programs | ASU Virtual Programs | Principal Investigator | OPEN Approved for submission | Mar 2021 | |
| Reinvent CO2 - Next Generation Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCUS) technologies for industrial post combustion processes | C02 Capture and Conversion to useful of products (working title) | Co-Investigator | European Commission (H2020) | OPEN Approved for submission | May 2020 |