My research is centred very broadly around the psychological side of migration.

Using a mixed-methods approach, the majority of my research investigates well-being of ethnic and religious minority groups, particularly refugees. I like to explore these topics from a multidisciplinary and policy-focused perspective, for example by investigating how refugee resettlement policies and support programmes can optimise integration and well-being of refugees. I also explore the link between the use of digital technologies and well-being among migrants, including unaccompanied refugee children. I have conducted research projects in the UK, the Netherlands, Canada, and Chile.

I supervise PhD students on a variety of topics that focus on the psychological side of migration. I welcome proposals from students who want to investigate well-being of migrants, refugees, or international students. This includes research into existing inequalities.

For example, some of my research focuses on digital inequalities among refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, and investigates how this links to their wellbeing. In another project, we explore the digital worlds of refugee and asylum seeking children, including the risks and benefits of using digital technology for their education. I also supervise a project where we explore resilience of international students from a social policy perspective.

I am also interested in supervising projects that look into British people's attitudes towards migration: i.e., what are predictors of negative and positive attitudes and behaviours towards migration, and what can we do to improve these attitudes?

In 2006 I was awarded a BSc in Psychology, and in 2008 I obtained an MRes, both with first class honours from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. In 2008 I became a researcher at Royal Holloway University of London, where I worked with on an ESRC-funded project looking into acculturation attitudes of majority members.

In 2009, I received a Graduate Teaching Award (GTA) to do my PhD in Psychology at the University of Sussex under supervision of Professor Rupert Brown. My PhD thesis was awarded with the Outstanding Dissertation Award of the International Academy for Intercultural Research in 2013. 

From 2013 until 2018, I worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Sussex on an ESRC-funded interdisciplinary research project on refugee resettlement.

I joined the University of Brighton as a Lecturer in Psychology in February 2018. 

I love it when students are actively engaged in the subject, and I try to achieve this by making the sessions interactive, by stimulating critical and creative thinking, and by continually making links with contemporary real world and research examples. I strongly believe that teaching is a two-way process, and open communication in the classroom is essential for the learning process of both students and lecturers.