Biography

I started working at Portsmouth as a Lecturer in 2011, I became a Senior Lecturer in 2013 and Principal Lecturer/ Associate Head of School (Students) in 2021. Prior to this, I completed a PhD at The University of Southampton entitled ‘The Stigmatisation of Certain Contemporary Weapons of War: Its Origins, Evolution and Development’.  Outside of academia I have worked for 8 years within the National Health Service.  

Research interests

My research interests relate to the challenges of preventing the use and proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.  I have published and presented at national and international conferences on this and have shared my expertise as an analyst and commentator for national and international media outlets.      

My research lies principally within three strands of security and defence:

Firstly, I have focused upon the norms associated with WMD, specifically, the concept of a stigma, questioning how and why these weapons remain distinct (legally) from other methods of warfare.

My second strand of research relates to the conceptualisation of deterrence in the 21^st century. This addresses the development of new, innovative modes of warfare which cross over the boundaries of civilian and military activity.  My research examines the challenges and issues associated with this.  I am interested in exploring new and innovative ways to enhance collaboration between military, academic and policy professionals within my field.  I am a member of a number of organisations and groups which seek to address this. 

The third strand of my research explores barriers to collaboration associated with the issues of gender equality and diversity amongst the Security community. I am keen to explore how inequalities can impact upon the formation of deterrence policy.  Within my role at Portsmouth, I am the Equality and Diversity Lead for my School.  I have completed training in this area and I have been using my skills and knowledge gained from this work to enhance my research. 

I teach principally on the themes of international relations, security and defence and deterrence.

I am happy to offer Mres and PhD supervision within the areas of:

• UK and US security and defence, Nuclear non-proliferation and deterrence, chemical and biological counter proliferation measures and arms control. Emerging weapons technologies and normative prohibitions.

Teaching responsibilities

I currently teach a number of modules at undergraduate and postgraduate level: 

At undergraduate level, I have written, coordinate and teach a final year module: Security Challenges in the 21st Century.  This module addressed contemporary security threats and challenges in the 21st Century, we cover topics such as cyber warfare, international terrorism, piracy, chemical and biological weapons threats and nuclear non-proliferation.  This module is a core module for the BA (Hons) degree in International Relations. 100% of our graduates who take this degree are in work or further study.  The module is also offered as an option for the BA (Hons) degree in International Relations and Politics, as well as the BA(Hons) in Politics, The BA (Hons) in International Relations and Languages, The BA (Hons) in International Development and the BA (Hons) in International Relations and Languages. 

At Postgraduate level, I teach a module entitled Defence and Deterrence.  This introduces students to the challenges and issues associated with deterring 21^st Century security threats.  Students study the differing concepts of deterrence and relate these to contemporary defence threats, these include drone warfare, space, cyber, chemical and biological weapons threats, nuclear proliferation and NATO.  This is a core module for the following Masters levels programmes: MA International Relations (Campus based), MA International Relations (Distance Learning), MA International Relations and Politics. 

I also supervise students tasking the Humanities and Social Science MRes programme and PhD research.