I am a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Social Policy where I teach on the undergradaute and postgrauate programmes in social work.  Before joining the university, I worked for 10 years as a professional social worker in the statutory and voluntary sectors, both in Scotland and the USA.  These experiences underpin my current teaching and research and promoting and developing social work practice is a key priority.

I am actively engaged in a number of inter-disciplinary research projects and knowledge exchange activities with specific interests in: death, dying, loss and bereavement; public health approaches to palliative care (including compassionate schools); childhood; participatory research methods; and practice development.  I welcome opportunities to work collaboratively.

I am a registered social worker with the Scottish Social Services Council and a member of the Association of Palliative Care Social Workers and the Public Health Palliative Care International. I have a PhD in Social Work from the University of Edinburgh and am a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

• Death, dying, loss and bereavement
• Public health approaches to palliative care (including compassionate communities) 
• Participatory research methods
• Research with children and young people
• Practice and service development

My teaching spans three broad fields: social work, bereavement and loss and research skills. I teach across both of the qualifying social work programmes: the BA(Hons) in Social Work and the Masters of Social Work.  I also contribute teaching on bereavement and loss in other settings, academic and practice, to a variety of disciplines. 

My research focuses on bereavement, loss and end-of-life care with a particular emphasis on developing the resilience of communities to better cope with, and support, related experiences.  I have a particular interest in the experiences of marginalised groups, including children and young people and people involved in the criminal justice system. I have experience of action research and am committed to participatory research methods that have impact across practice and policy as well as within academia.

I welcome proposals from Undergraduate, Masters or potential PhD students with related research interests. 

I currently supervise the following doctoral students: 

Sallyanne Mercer - Death and dying in prison: deconstructing disenfranchised dying (with Professor Beth Weaver)

Emma Young - Supporting successful parenting: exploring professional responses to women in and leaving care who are pregnant or parenting (with Dr Laura Steckley)

Bright Anthony - The impact of parental death on children and family dynamics during Covid -19 in Scotland (with Dr Nina Vaswani)

Kerrie Highcock - The voices and experiences of autistic youth (with Dr Anna Robinson)

Penny Laycock - Adult Children of Alcoholics and Problem Substance Use (with Professor Bernard Harris)

I have supervised the following doctoral students to successful completion of their award:

Dr Tia Simanovic - Bereavement and imprisonment: an exploration of the experience of grief and loss prior to and during custody (with Professor Beth Weaver) Thesis available here

Dr Laura del Carpio - Life after loss: a theory based investigation of the impact of bereavement by suicide or other causes on adolescents in Scotland (with Dr Susan Rasmussen) Thesis available here

Dr David Duncan - Facilitating a creative and pedagogical space to engage children with the topic of death and dying in schools (with Dr Anna Robinson)  Thesis available here

Dr Keyla Cooper - Problematising palliative cre: a 'what's the problem represented to be' analysis of WHO guidelines (with Professor Ian Greener) Thesis available here