Biography

I graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2009 with a First in BSc Psychology. My undergraduate project was focused on empathy and social referencing in dogs, supervised by Dr Debbie Custance. In 2015, I completed an MRes in Psychological Methods at the University of Sussex, followed by my PhD, supervised by Dr David Leavens which I completed in 2019.

My thesis was entitled ‘Environmental Influences on Behavioural Responses on the Object ChoiceTask in Dogs and Children: Implications for the Evolution of Human Cognition’. Following my PhD, I worked as Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Sussex, and then I joined University of Portsmouth as Teaching Fellow in Psychology in September 2022.

Research interests

• Cross-species comparisons and methodologies
• Joint attention in human infants and the role of affect
• Social cognition in dogs
• Learning and Teaching

Teaching responsibilities

I am currently the Course Leader for the three Dual Degrees within the School of Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences. I coordinate the Level 3 module ‘Introduction to the Human World’, and I am also the option coordinator for the Level 5 ‘Careers in Psychology’. Additionally, I supervise Level 6 undergraduate research projects, and I am the Employability Champion for Undergraduate Psychology.