I was a first generation university student when I moved from the West Midlands to Bristol in 2000. I didn’t realise what ‘first gen’ meant at that time, nor for many years to come. Even during my PhD, I was unaware that just 3% of academics are first gen. I am passionate about supporting first gen and otherwise marginalised groups into academia.

I joined the University of Oxford in 2016 as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Transport Studies Unit working with Prof Tim Schwanen, and the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand.

After a year or two as a Departmental Research Lecturer in Transport Studies, I took up my current role as an Associate Professor in Human Geography in 2019.

Prior to Oxford I was in Aotearoa New Zealand, where I completed my PhD (2010-2013) and postdoctoral training (2013-2016) at the University of Otago.

During my time at Otago, I helped to establish the Otago Climate Change Network - a wonderful group of likeminded colleagues from across the university who knew the climate crisis needed interdisciplinary thinking and creative approaches.

It was during my master’s studies at King’s College, London that I first started thinking about academia as a career path. Prior to this, I had been thinking about training as a teacher, mostly inspired by my time in Japan working on the JET programme.

My academic path has been anything but linear - and I sometimes feel like I am still ‘catching up’ with my peers. But I feel fortunate to enjoy the job I do, to work with wonderful and inspiring people, and to get to support the next generation of scholars.