Professor of Reading and Children’s Development, The Open University
Natalia Kucirkova researches innovative ways of supporting children’s reading engagement with digital books and the role of personalisation in early years.
Her research takes place collaboratively across academia, commercial and third sectors. She developed an award-winning app ‘Our Story’ for children's story-making and has widely published on early literacy and children’s use of technology.
Natalia is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts, Governor for Swallowfield Lower School, Chair of the judging panel for the UKLA Children's Digital Book Awards, Co-Chair of the WG3 COST Action and Advisory Board Member for Save The Children. She has been commended for her engagement with teachers and parents at a national and international level.
Previous roles include:
- Senior Lecturer in Childhood Studies & Early Years, Manchester Metropolitan University
- Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, Open University
-Visiting academic at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA
- Knowledge Transfer Partnership Associate, Booktrust and Open University, UK
-Visiting Pre-doctoral Fellow, Department of Education, Harvard University, USA
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Associate professor, University of Warsaw
I have trained as a sociologist, but my research falls at the intersection of sociology, political science and psychology, as I research attitudes and behaviour towards public goods, including tax and pro-environmental behaviour and co-production, as well as policy preferences, discriminatory behaviour, social capital, social trust and corruption. I have an extensive experience in research on ethnic minorities, and party policy and electoral strategy in post-Communist countries. I am particularly interested in the conditioning effect of social and spatial context.
Methodologically, I specialize in quantitative survey research, including survey experiments. I am widely experienced in working with cross-national survey data, including survey design and implementation.
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PhD Candidate in International Relations, University of Kent
Natalia Piotrowska is a PhD Candidate in International Relations at the University of Kent. Her research areas include international security, foreign policy analysis and Turkish foreign and security policy (with a special focus on Turkish-Israeli relations). Natalia adopts an interdisciplinary approach to her research, and draws from psychology and sociology in order to further the understanding of domestic and foreign policy of states. In her PhD project, the role of friendship in International Relations is explored through the theoretical prism of ontological security.
Prior to beginning her PhD, Natalia was awarded a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Political Sciences (focus: foreign services) from the University of Wroclaw (Poland). During this time, she was also an exchange student at the Yeditepe University in Turkey (2008/2009) and the Belgrade University in Serbia (2010/2011). Natalia was awarded the Scholarship for Academic Achievements by the Institute of Political Sciences at the University of Wroclaw, the Scholarship for Academic Merit by the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education and the University of Kent 50th Anniversary PhD Scholarship.
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Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Florida International University
Dr. Natalia Soares Quinete's specialities include: Environmental and Bioanalytical Chemistry, Mass Spectrometry, PFAS analysis, Emerging Contaminants, Metabolites and Biomarkers. Her areas of reserach include: Method development based on mass spectrometry for targeted and non-targeted approaches with applications in environmental (exposomics) and bioanalytical chemistry (lipidomics and metabolomics); Monitoring and assessment of the occurrence, fate and transport of PFAS in environmental and biological samples
Biomonitoring of endocrine disruptor contaminants such as phthalates, hormones, PFAS, PCB metabolites, and other emerging compounds; and Study of biomarkers of exposure to a variety of environmental organic contaminants.
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Research Assistant in Psychiatry, Wayne State University
Natalia Szura is a Research Assistant at the Wayne State University Department of Psychiatry. She is based in Detroit, Michigan.
She graduated from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor in 2022 with a BA in the English and Film, Television, and Media majors, as well as two minors, Writing and German.
During her time as an undergraduate student, she wrote for, and was promoted to Editor for, both the acclaimed
satirical newspaper, The Every Three Weekly, and feminist publication What the F magazine. Natalia has
over 30 written articles published by the former.
Natalia currently collaborates with scientists and doctors for academic and research writing for Wayne State University. Despite this, she holds experience writing for a range of audiences and contexts, including comedic writing, essay writing, persuasive writing, copywriting, blogging, and more.
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Lecturer in International History, University of Strathclyde
I am a Lecturer In International History at the University of Strathclyde, and specialise in the history of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, especially in Africa. I am the author of "Cold War Liberation: The Soviet Union and the Collapse of Portuguese Empire in Africa, 1961-1975" (UNC Press, 2022), which examines Soviet support for anticolonial movements in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. I have also published several articles on Soviet and Czechoslovak intelligence in Africa and co-edited “Warsaw Pact Intervention in the Third World" (IB Tauris, 2018).
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Postdoctoral Researcher, Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia
PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of East Anglia. Research thesis title: "Biodiversity and ecosystem services in fruit farms: the roles of management and semi-natural habitats.".
MSc in Applied Ecology & Conservation from the University of East Anglia, with a research thesis titled "“Impact of nest predation, landscape and temporal variables on the breeding productivity, and habitat utilisation of lowland Eurasian curlew Numenius arquata in Breckland, UK.”
BSc (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Nottingham, with a research thesis titled "“The acoustic ecology of the European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus).”
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Professor Reading and Early Childhood Development, The Open University
Natalia I. Kucirkova is Professor of Early Childhood Education at The Open University, UK and at the University of Stavanger, Norway. Natalia’s research concerns innovative ways of supporting children’s book reading, digital literacy, and exploring the role of personalisation in the early years. Natalia’s research takes place collaboratively across academia, commercial and third sectors. Her latest book is "Inspirational Women in Academia Supporting Careers and Improving Minority Representation" by Routledge.
Photo: Anne Lise Norheim AYF
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Assistant Professor, Department of Art History, Universidad de los Andes
Natalia's areas of interest include the study of pre-Hispanic rock art and ceramics from the Caribbean and Orinoco regions, with an emphasis on archaeometric studies and indigenous technologies. She has also studied the representation of indigenous people in the New Granada region during the early colonial period, using ethnohistorical sources and colonial-era paintings.
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Research officer for the Welsh Institute of Performance Science, Swansea University
Dr Natalie Brown is a research officer for the Welsh Institute of Performance Science, based in the department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Swansea University.
Natalie has a background working as a physiologist in elite sport, optimising athlete performance. As part of this work she recognised the impact of female specific factors. As a result, Natalie has specialised in research relating to female athletes, focussed on the menstrual cycle and impact on elite performance to participation in physical activity. Her research works closely with Sport Wales and National Governing Bodies across Wales, along with schools to improve menstrual education provision.
Natalie has a particular focus on using her research to create change and translating knowledge into practice.
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Lecturer in Geosciences, University of Montana
I have a passion for finding creative ways to teach and communicate the importance of geology – its application in everyday life, for inspiring students to explore their environment, and for encouraging their natural awe and respect for the Earth. I have a broad range of geologic interests ranging from broad-scale landscape evolution and sustainability to public science communication and wine and terroir. I am passionate about employing creative ways to communicate the importance and value of scientific understanding in everyday life and how critical it is that we as a species embrace sustainable practices now.
My recent research has focused on geoscience education, especially assessing the efficacy of pedagogic tools ranging from analog models of Earth systems to the integration of smart technology and augmented reality in learning experiences. My experience in post-secondary education has been driven by my passion for engaging and educating my diverse student body equally.
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Postdoctoral research fellow, Early Start, University of Wollongong
Natalie Day is a Research Fellow with Early Start at the University of Wollongong, Australia, where she is published in topics of early self-regulation development and play. Natalie’s work has contributed to research on the development of playful pedagogies at Cambridge University’s PEDAL Centre (Play in Education, Development, & Learning) and she continues to work on a variety of projects in the field of education, including digital play contexts, intergenerational play, and parent-child play interactions. Natalie is a PEDAL affiliate, and a member of the NSW Institute of Educational Research and Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child.
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PhD Candidate, Conservation Policy, University of Oxford
I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Biology at the University of Oxford. I am an ecologist with a background in researching how we can optimise environmental policy for the best outcomes for insect biodiversity.
My research looks at the conservation outcomes of ecological compensation policies (e.g., Biodiversity Net Gain) with a particular focus on the proxy biodiversity metrics used in these policies and how they reflect other dimensions of biodiversity. Currently, I am using DNA metabarcoding to measure invertebrate community diversity to analyse against baseline Biodiversity Net Gain scores in England.
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PhD Candidate in Humanitarian Design and Infrastructure Studies, Arizona State University
For my doctorate, I am researching the architecture of homeless shelter design in Phoenix, Arizona. I am also a researcher in public participation of oil and gas pipeline in the United States. Prior to graduate school, I worked for 7 years in the public and private sector, practicing architecture.
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Teaching Fellow in Department of English Studies, Durham University
I am a scholar of medieval romance and the history of ideas with a particular interest in embodiment. I've written on the medical humanities regarding women's health, on the transformation of the body, and on medieval swans. Ive had some small success working collaboratively with scientists, resulting in my being interviewed on Times Radio by John Pienaar, and featured in The Guardian, The Times, Science Magazine, and beyond. My current research looks at medieval ideas of causality for abnormal birth. I hold degrees from UNC (BA), Edinbugh (MSc), and Durham (PhD).
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Lecturer, College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University
Dr. Natalie Goulter is a Lecturer at Flinders University, an Adjunct Associate Lecturer within the Salivary Bioscience Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, and an Adjunct Professor within the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Natalie is a consortium member of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology, and a member of the Association for Psychological Science and the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy. She is also an editorial board member for the Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, and the International Journal of Behavioral Development. Natalie’s research program aims to advance the understanding, prediction, and prevention of externalising psychopathology in young people.
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Associate Professor of Arabic and Arab Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology
I research the connections among media, language, and disenfranchisement. I have published about Arab media (e.g., Lebanese TV), atheism (e.g., why Arab atheists use pseudonyms; how gender is implicated in the atheist message), and refugees (e.g., how systems of oppression against human groups cannot be dismantled without dismantling oppression agains t other species as well).
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Associate Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University
Natalie Kouri-Towe is an Associate Professor of feminism and sexuality at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University. Her research has been published in both academic and non-academic venues on topics related to affect theory, solidarity, kinship, queer activism, trigger warnings, gender and sexuality pedagogies, masculinity, and responses to war in the Middle East. Her edited collection, Reading the Room: Lessons on Pedagogy and Curriculum from the Gender and Sexuality Studies Classroom, is forthcoming (Fall 2024) with Concordia University Press. Along with Myloe Martel-Perry, she has also published an open access teaching guidebook, Better Practice in the Classroom: A Teaching Guidebook for Sustainable, Inclusive, and Equitable Learning from a Gender and Sexuality Studies Framework, available through Concordia Pressbooks. She is currently working on a book manuscript on feminist and queer solidarity under neoliberalism titled Solidarity at Risk.
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Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney
Dr. Natalie Krikowa (she/they) is a media scholar and practice-led researcher at the University of Technology Sydney. Natalie holds a Doctor of Creative Arts in media and cultural studies and currently teaches in digital media and screenwriting. Natalie's research focuses on issues surrounding LGBTIQA+ representation in screen studies, popular culture, and transmedia; and the use of digital and social media in disaster risk communication, particularly in improving communication and community engagement using new technologies. Natalie’s queer-focused creative practice works include The Newtown Girls (2012), All Our Lesbians Are Dead! (2017), and Queer Representation Matters (2023), underscoring her commitment to amplifying LGBTQIA+ voices and narratives through storytelling.
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Lecturer, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University
Dr Natalie Lazaroo is a Lecturer in Education (Drama) at Griffith University, where her research interests lie in cultural citizenship, socially engaged performance, arts-based research, and decentring/decolonising methodologies. Natalie has received grants for her work into the arts and cultural citizenship with disadvantaged young people in Singapore, where she has been involved in a long-term and ongoing collaboration. Along with Dr Tanja Beer and Dr Linda Hassall, Natalie is a co-director of the Performance + Ecology Research Lab (P+ERL), which explores the intersections between creative practice and ecological ways of being, knowing, and doing.
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Associate professor, University of Sydney
Associate Professor Natalie Silove is a Neurodevelopmental Paediatrician, Head of the Child Development Unit at The Children's Hospital Westmead and Senior Lecturer Sydney University
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Professor of Economics, University of Tasmania
Bachelor of Economics (Australian National University)
Masters of Economics (James Cook University)
PhD (Australian National University)
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Professor of Psychology, University of Florida
Dr. Natalie Ebner is Full Professor and the Trish Calvert Endowed Professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at University of Florida. She is affiliated with the Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, the Institute on Aging, the Department of Physiology and Aging, the McKnight Brain Institute, the Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, the Substance Abuse Training Center in Public Health, the Florida Institute for National Security, and the Florida Institute for Cyber Security Research. She received her Ph.D. in 2005 in Psychology with a particular focus on lifespan development and aging from the Free University of Berlin, Germany. She completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and at Yale University, where she also worked as Associate Research Scientist before joining the faculty at the University of Florida. Dr. Ebner’s expertise in experimental behavioral aging research coupled with her background in affective, social, and cognitive neuroscience allow for a comprehensive view of brain−behavior relationships in the study of aging. Methods applied in her lab include structural and functional MRI and eye-tracking as well as pharmacological (i.e., intranasal oxytocin administration), brain-stimulation (real-time fMRI neurofeedback), and real-life (i.e., simulated phishing) interventions, in both healthy and pathological aging (e.g., Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias). She has received multiple awards throughout her career, such as the International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course Outstanding Alumni Award, the University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences International Educator of the Year Award, the University of Florida Research Foundation Professorship Award, and the University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Faculty Achievement Award. Since 2015, she has been a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and since 2023 a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Her body of work is documented in over 100 publications. Over the years, her research has been funded by NIH, NSF, and other agencies and she has gained extensive expertise in supervision of early-career faculty, including NIH K01 awards and diversity supplements.
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Assistant Teaching Professor, School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria
My career brings together practice experience in public health, mental health and post-secondary teaching. I have a BSc in Health Studies, Bachelor and Master degrees in Nursing and a PhD in Educational Technology and Learning Design. My area of research focuses on accessible and inclusive education for students with mental-health-related disabilities who are studying online. I have recently (November 2022) defended my PhD and I hold a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Joseph-Armand Bombardier fellowship (2020-2023).
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PhD Candidate, Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment, Princeton University
Natalie Sum Yue Chung is a Ph.D. candidate in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, jointly supervised by Michael Oppenheimer and Eric Tate. Inspired by a polar explorer at the age of 11, Natalie has dedicated her life to climate action. She is the co-founder of V'air Sustainability Education, a social enterprise that provides nature-based climate change education for schools and corporations, reaching over 2 million population. Natalie is recognized by Eco-Business and The Japan Times as one of the most impactful sustainability leaders in Asia Pacific.
Natalie's professional experience with the World Bank on a Pacific Island environmental project led her to realize the life-and-death consequences of extreme weather for vulnerable communities, sparking her research interest in climate resilience (Link: TEDx Talk on Building Cities’ Climate Resilience. Natalie aims to develop an evaluation model that integrates scientific and human elements to support nature-based adaptation. Her ultimate goal is to bridge the gap between academia and policy by advocating for increased investments in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and promoting community engagement to achieve transformative adaptation.
In recognition of her climate research and advocacy efforts, Natalie has been appointed by the Hong Kong government as a member of the Council for Carbon Neutrality and Sustainable Development, the Green Tech Fund Assessment Committee, and the Country and Marine Parks Board to advise on policy decisions. As a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, Natalie initiated the Lead for Sustainability Mentorship program. She also served as the sole Hong Kong representative at the Dr Sylvia Earle Antarctic Climate Expedition, advocating for tackling the ocean-climate crisis.
Natalie holds an MPhil in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University and a BSSc in Geography and Resource Management from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the clarinet, Chinese painting, and hiking.
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Medical Student & Epidemiologist, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
Natalie Scime is an epidemiologist specializing in reproductive and women’s health. Her program of research investigates the relationships between reproductive factors and women’s health and chronic disease risk across the life course. Dr. Scime holds a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Calgary, completed a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow jointly at the University of Toronto Scarborough and ICES (Ontario), and is presently completing her Doctor of Medicine (MD) studies with the Class of 2027 at the University of Calgary.
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Associate Professor in International Business, University of Bradford
Natalie's research focuses on language diversity in international business, and she has published a number of works on this topic, with a research monograph on language management published by Multilingual Matters in August 2022. She plays an active role in the administration of Groupe d’Etudes Management et Langage, a scholarly body focused on management and language.
Her teaching interests are in the areas of international strategy and cross-cultural management. In addition to her substantive roles at Sheffield Hallam University and subsequently the University of Bradford, since 2017 she has also been a visiting lecturer at the University of Bordeaux, where she teaches a postgraduate course on intercultural communication. Prior to academia, Natalie held various positions in the private sector, specialising in export sales and has worked extensively with organisations in southern Europe and Latin America.
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Lecturer in Creative Arts, School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney
Dr Natasha Beaumont is a lecturer in Creative Arts K to 6 and secondary pedagogy at The University of Sydney. She is also a contributing researcher at the university's CREATE Centre. Natasha's research interests are creativity, arts education, literacy and EAL/D learners. She teaches drama and filmmaking in primary and secondary programmes across NSW and draws heavily from her background as a professional actor to inform her teaching and research.
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Grattan Institute
Natasha Bradshaw is an Associate in Grattan Institute’s Transport and Cities Program. She previously worked at the Australian Treasury, with a focus on structural issues in the labour market and barriers to women’s economic security.
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Professor of History, University of Johannesburg
BA (Hons) MA University of Cape Town. PhD Cambridge University.
I trained as an historian, doing my undergraduate, honours and master sdegrees at the University of Cape Town (UCT). My doctorate was completed at Cambridge University.
To date, my research interests have focused on the history of the relationship between gender and mainline African Christianity, within the broader context of colonialism. This work has just been published as Convening Black Intimacy: Christianity, Gender, and Tradition in Early-Twentieth Century South Africa (Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2022).
My new work is on the history of reproductive health in Africa between the 1940s and the 1990s. This work takes a comparative look at how birth control policies were rolled out across a range of different and newly-independent nation states, and about the ways in which Africans resisted and adopted the agendas of foreign donor agencies in this regard.
After brief teaching stints at UCT and Rhodes University, I have been lecturing and researching at the University of Johannesburg since 1999. From 2007 to 2010 I directed the Centre for Culture and Languages in Africa. In 2011 I moved to head up Historical Studies at UJ, a position I held for five years. I am currently a professor in the department, where I have a particular interest and expertise in supervising and mentoring postgraduates. I am also a senior research associate at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
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Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Nottingham
I have recently finished my doctoral research at the University of Nottingham, funded by the AHRC and the Midlands3Cities Doctoral Training Partnership. I previously attained a BA (Hons) in Archaeology, Anthropology and Art History and an MA in Cultural Heritage at the University of East Anglia. I am currently employed as a Research Fellow on the AHRC/EPSRC funded Caistor Immersive Experience project, developing an Augmented Reality app for the Roman town. I have recently completed the Associate Teacher Programme to become an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and work as a Teaching Affiliate at the University of Nottingham. I am also a Reviews co-editor for the Britannia archaeology journal. My professional career, including a strong museums background and work with Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) data, has given me an understanding of the theoretical and practical issues surrounding the collection and interpretation of small finds. Working with local archaeological groups has provided me with an excellent knowledge of regional material culture. I have also volunteered with the PASt Explorers and Nottingham Young Archaeologists' Club, as well as running schools' outreach in Norfolk and Nottinghamshire. I have taken an active role in fieldwalking, excavation and finds processing at the civitas capital of Venta Icenorum (Caistor St Edmund) with the Caistor Roman Project (CRP) over the past twelve years. Since 2010, I have been investigating the 1929-35 excavations of Donald Atkinson at Caistor, in partnership with Norfolk Museums Service (NMS) and CRP. Oral history interviews are another project which I have been carrying out over the past several years with key figures in the archaeology of Norfolk. I have extended this to explore the personal stories, opinions and behaviour of metal-detectorists, who play an important role in recovering many of the objects in my study.
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PhD Candidate, International Studies, RMIT University
Natasha Karner is a PhD Candidate at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests are in emerging technologies and global security. She is a current Fellow of the Cambridge Existential Risks Initiative (CERI).
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Senior research officer and data scientist, Swansea University
I am a Senior Research Officer for the National Centre for Population Health and Wellbeing Research. My research interests lie in utilising statistics to analyse and model life course data such as social service, education, and health data.
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