Profile

I’m originally from Lincolnshire where I was really lucky to live within a 10-minute drive of my entire family. As you can probably tell, we’re a very small, but friendly bunch, and they’ve been my rock throughout my life.

I decided to study in Nottingham as it was close to home and that’s where I met my lovely partner Simon during my MSc year through the Rambling and Hiking club. We’re currently living in Shropshire with his parents whilst we finish our PhD’s, and I’m really happy to be able to walk through the countryside on my doorstep and visit my favourite highland cattle!

One of my hobbies is baking, though sadly this hobby has had to take a backseat recently as there was only so much stuff I could move to Shropshire. You’ll be happy to know that my mountain of recipes books and baking equipment are currently safely stored at my parent’s house (they will never be rid of me!). I’m also crazy about desserts and whilst in Nottingham, the Pudding Pantry was a favourite place of mine to visit.

In my spare time, I also support initiatives to improve mental health following my own experiences with mental health difficulties. I’m currently supporting others who may be experiencing their own difficulties through my voluntary work as a Shout Volunteer, through my training as a Mental Health First Aider, and last year I shared my mental health journey as part of Zoë J Ayres #100voices project.

My PhD research looks at ‘cyberaggression behaviours’, a term that is used to describe negative behaviours which occur online, such as on social media, text messages, email, online forums, and chat rooms. For my research, I decided to look at three types of ‘cyberaggression’:

1) Cyberbullying: where people intentionally and repeatedly threaten and harass victims through written messages/posts, pictures and videos, through excluding victims from online groups/chats, and by revealing personal information about the victims online.

2) Cyberstalking: where people use technology to repeatedly monitor the victims’ behaviour in order to manipulate and control the victims. This could involve finding information about the victim, sending unwanted messages, and spreading false information about the victims online.

3) Trolling: where people behave in a disruptive manner online with the aim of intentionally annoying other online users. This is where people post meaningless messages/comments to get a reaction from people. People who engage in this behaviour are looking for attention from others.

My research is looking at factors that could be contributing to people’s engagement in these ‘cyberaggression behaviours’ with the aim of helping to develop an intervention to stop these behaviours and make the online world a safer space.

I often wake up around 8am and have some breakfast (porridge and a cup of tea) whilst watching some TV. I’ve currently been rewatching How I Met Your Mother off the Disney+ channel. After breakfast, I get ready for the day and I’m usually at my desk by 9am where I catch up on my emails, say hello to my supervisor online, and I plan out my day by writing down in my diary the most important task to be completed, followed by the next two most important tasks. I then make myself another cup of tea before starting work properly.

At the moment I am analysing data from my PhD research and this involves a lot of coding (I do a lot of Googling as I’m known for getting errors!). At the same time as analysing the data, I’m also writing up the findings in my thesis. This is the scarily long document that contains all my research which I have to send to examiners for them to quiz me on and decide if I have done enough to earn the title of Dr.

I take an hour’s lunch break around 12pm with my partner where we relax and watch some more TV, before heading back to work till 5pm.