I was a first generation university student when I moved from the West Midlands to Bristol in 2000. I didn’t realise what ‘first generation’ meant at that time, nor for many years to come. Even during my PhD, I was unaware that just 3% of academics are first generation university students [US data, tellingly, none exist for the UK], and of the low rates of postgraduate study for UK state school educated young adults.

I am passionate about supporting first generation and otherwise marginalised groups into academia. You can find out more about Oxford’s First Generation student society here, and about Oxford’s ‘Fitting in’ campaign.

I joined the University of Oxford in 2016 as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Transport Studies Unit working with the inspirational Prof Tim Schwanen, and the Centre on Innovation and Energy Demand. I also held a Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) at Mansfield College - a truly wonderful Oxford college with 93% of its undergraduates coming from state schools.

After a year or two as a Departmental Research Lecturer in Transport Studies (also at the TSU), I became an Associate Professor in Human Geography in 2019, jointly appointed between the School of Geography and the Environment and Oxford Lifelong Learning (Sustainable Urban Development programme), with an Official Fellowship at Kellogg College. In 2026, I was awarded the title of Professor of the Human Geographies of Mobility.

Prior to Oxford I was in Aotearoa New Zealand, where I completed my PhD (2010-2013) under the watchful and caring eye of Prof James Higham and Prof Susanne Becken. This was followed by postdoctoral training (2013-2016) on the Energy Cultures programme at the Centre for Sustainability, both at Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, the University of Otago.

During my time at Otago, I helped to establish the Otago Climate Change Network - a brilliant group of like-minded 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, and where my wonderful supervisor, Prof Kate Maclean taught me the power and joy of academic research. Prior to this, I had been planning to train as a teacher, mostly inspired by my time in Japan working on the JET programme.

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.