My background is in Sociology (BSsc), Women's Studies (MA.), and Education (PhD). In 2012, I completed a PhD part-time, in the School of Education, entitled: 'Children drawing their own conclusions: Transgenerational transmission of experiences of conflict and peace in Northern Ireland'. It explored whether and to what extent parents' views and experiences on the Troubles influence children's understandings on their country's past and present. In 2005, I started working at Queen's University Belfast, in the School of Social Work. I worked for over two years in a project looking at the effectiveness of services provided by community groups to those affected by the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Following that post, I worked in the third wave of the 'Care Pathways and Outcomes' study, a longitudinal study following a population of children who were under 5 years old and in public care in Northern Ireland on 31st March 2000. I also worked on the 'At home in care' study, looking at the experiences of children living with birth parent/s on a Care Order, on the Regional Variations study, looking at regional variations in the placement of children in care in Northern Ireland, and the Mind Your Health study, looking at the mental health of care experienced children and young people. Then, I went on to work in the fourth wave of the Care Pathways and Outcomes Study. Following that, I worked in an evaluation of a mentoring programme for care leavers in South Africa, an evaluation of a post-adoption service for families, a literature review on the legacy of the NI conflict on children and young people from a rights-based perspective, a 3-year mixed-methods project focusing on small rural schools and their communities in Northern Ireland, and most recently, an organisational review on the implementation of trauma-informed approaches in NI. With a team of colleagues from QUB, UU and University of Strathclyde, I have recently started working on RADICAL (Respect and Disrespect in Children's and Adolescents' Lives). The aim of this project is to work directly with children and young people to understand and theorise respect and disrespect, and to use this understanding to enhance respect in their lives.

I convened the module of Sociology for Social Work (for first year students of Social Work) for the year 2023.

I am currently a member of the Centre for Children's Rights.