Profile

I have played piano since I was five and saxophone since I was 11. I don’t get much time to practice any more as my work is quite busy and my children (aged 2 and 4) take up most of my free time. I love running as it gives me some time to myself to clear my head and gives me a good break from the screen and sitting at my desk.

In my lecturing role I teach Research Methods – this is how to design, plan, and conduct a study, as well as how to analyse the data and write it all up. I also teach Developmental Psychology which covers psychological development from conception to old age, including how children develop intelligence, emotions, and their sense of self.

I am chairperson of the Psychology Research Ethics Committee. All research must have ethical approval before it can take place, so I oversee all the ethical applications that are submitted and ensure that any issues are addressed before the study can go ahead. This is to ensure that no participants get hurt or too upset by taking part in a study, and that the researcher is not planning to do anything risky.

I research sleep and sleep disorders in children and how poor sleep is associated with poorer cognitive abilities like memory and attention. I am particularly interested in children with atypical development such as Down syndrome, Williams syndrome and Autism, as they often have sleep problems which could affect their cognition. My current project is looking at sleep and executive functions (things like planning and problem solving) in children with intellectual disability.

If I’m working from home I get up at 7:20, have breakfast with my family and take my son to school. Then I work from my home office. I usually spend these days planning my teaching, responding to emails, some online meetings, supervising students’ dissertation projects, and general admin. I also use this time for desk research, which usually involves reading published research online, analysing data, and writing papers.

When I am teaching I have to get up early (6:30) so I try to be very quiet so as not to wake anyone else up. I start teaching at 9am for 3-4 hours. These are interactive classes with some mini-lectures and lots of activities and discussions. I spend the afternoons having face to face meetings, seeing my colleagues, or working on my computer.