I lecture in Politics and Sociology. My research interests focus on charity and the voluntary sector, homelessness, class inequality, and the sociology of youth.

My research explores multiple facets of how charity works within society. My most recent book, The Good Glow: Charity and the Symbolic Power of Doing Good (policy Press, 2020) explores charity's social role as persuader and shortcut to presenting oneself  as 'good'. I am also exploring how young people perceive and experience charity on social media, how they interact with calls for donations or shares and retweets, and whether they feel comfortable with such public displays of morality and empathy. 

I started at Sheffield Hallam University in 2012 after completing a PhD examining how social class affects youth volunteering in the UK. This research used Pierre Bourdieu's ideas to show how the voluntary sector, despite being a part of society we expect to challenge inequalities often serves to reproduce them. This research has been published in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Voluntary Sector Review and the British Journal of the Sociology of Education.

I also have a keen interest in innovative and reflexive research methods. My first monograph, Doing Reflexivity:  An Introduction, was published by Policy Press in 2017, and sought to provide researchers of all stages a rationale for being reflexive and a guide to doing it. I have also used drawing methods to explore homelessness, and soundscapes to document changes in universities.