I am a Lecturer in Global Politics at the University of Manchester where I am an expert on international attention to LGBTQ+ populations in security studies, specifically focusing on how Women, Peace, and Security initiatives can better include LGBTQ+ voices and experiences. I bring a feminist, anti-racist approach to the work I do, seeking to bridge gaps between academic, policy and activism. I am currently touring with my solo manuscript book Queering Women, Peace and Security (OUP),which includes interviews with experts in Northern Ireland and Colombia reflecting on opportunities for collaboration across gender, peace and security with an emphasis on engaging with lesbian, bisexual and transgender women.

Previously I was also the lead researcher on the project Queering the Women, Peace and Security Agenda: A Practice-Based toolkit developed in partnership with the leading Colombian LGBTQ+ organization Colombia Diversa. I co-edited the Queer Conflict Research, a researcher’s guide to studying sensitive topics in violent contexts, Bristol University Press (2024, now in paperback!). My research is also published in the Journal of Gender Studies, International Affairs, Critical Studies in Security, the International Feminist Journal of Politics, the European Journal of Gender and Politics as well as in the London School of Economics’ Women Peace and Security Blog, the International Peace Institute’s Global Observatory, and other outlets.

I am the current EDI Officer for the British International Studies Association. I am also a founding co-convenor of the Queer Justice, Peace and Security Community of Practice. Formerly I was a Lecturer in International Relations at Queen's University Belfast. I am also the founding co-director of the Centre for Gender in Politics. During my 2023 sabbatical I was a visiting scholar with the Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Cornell University. I also spent time at the University of Notre Dame working with the Digital Archives of the Colombian Truth Commission with a grant awarded by The Legacy Project.

In 2021-2022 I was Chair for the International Studies Association (ISA) LGBTQA Caucus. That same year I was awarded a British Academy (BA) Innovation Fellowship which focused on improving engagement with lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LBTQ) women in WPS Programming. In 2018-19 I was the ISA James N. Rosenau Post-Doctoral Fellow and in Spring 2019 I was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Women, Peace and Security at the London School for Economics and Politics. I received my PhD from the University of Massachusetts Boston Global Governance and Human Security program.

I also like taking pictures of birds.