United Kingdom
Drawing on over twenty years of experience working with various parts of government, I research national security threats with a focus on protective security. I was part of the team that bid for and set-up the UK Government-funded hub for behavioural and social science research into security threats – CREST (Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats). Latterly I led on the Executive Agendas for CREST, encompassing a rapid research commissioning process, industry-leading communications, networking and capacity building activities. Providing strategic leadership for the Centre I also liaised with key academic and governmental stakeholders. Prior to that, I was the lead for CREST's comms strategy, leading on communicating and translating academic research on security, for practitioners and other users outside academia. I coordinated the publication of research from our network of 35+ universities and 150+ researchers. I also founded and edited the quarterly magazine CREST Security Review, distributed to senior officials within security, policing and policy departments across UK and overseas governments. I previously founded the website Radicalisation Research which highlights quality academic research on radicalization, extremism and fundamentalism for policy-makers and the media, and researched how ideology can lead to violence, developing an analytical model to map and explore non-negotiability in public statements made by violent and non-violent groups. In the past I have worked as a senior manager in the private sector as well as a consultant and researcher for local and national government, charities and faith groups. I also researched minority political and religious groups for a Home Office-funded charity and have published on religious literacy, religion in public life, and case-studies of cults and extremist groups.
I worked with Professor Kim Knott to make interdisciplinary links between researchers, drawing in a range of external stakeholders and undertaking an original programme of research into the role that beliefs, commitments and ideologies make in decision-making in the face of risk and uncertainty.
I founded and edited the website - approaching experts to contribute articles, keeping updated on the latest research on radicalisation, extremism and fundamentalism and putting this content on the site. I maintained the website, including overseeing re-designs of its appearance and communicating the research on it to a wide audience.
I researched fringe religious and political movements, helping to provide responses to enquiries.
I supported the critical and analytical development of programme content and its delivery, overseeing the finances, communications and outputs on a day-to-day basi of this HEFCE-funded project. I presented on a role for religious literacy in broader public settings at human rights and equalities events, including at the FCO's Wilton Park.