- Climate Change, Energy Policy and Sustainability
- Centre for Social Justice Research
- Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment
About me
I am a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the School of Social Sciences.
My core expertise lies in the sociology of work and employment. Having worked as a policy researcher for many years, I have extensive experience in cross-disciplinary research, and in my own work, I draw on insights from the broad fields of economic and political sociology, industrial relations and environmental studies. My current research examines the impact of climate change and climate adaptation on the world of work. My recent projects investigate the implications of climate change for the architectural profession, climate literacy development for building workers, gender equity in the EU energy efficiency policies, and the just transition strategies of labour organisations.
I took my first degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science (1997) and later completed a master's degree in Social Research Methods (2000) at the LSE. Between 2001 and 2009, I worked at the Policy Studies Institute on social policy research, followed by a PhD at the University of York (2014). I have been at the University of Westminster since 2016, as a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of the Production of the Built Environment (ProBE), and as a lecturer since 2021.
Teaching
Research Methods in Sociology and Criminology (Level 5)
Modern Social Theory (Level 5)
Contemporary Social Theory (Level 6)
Power and the State (L5)
London Explored (L4)
Thinking Sociologically (L4)
Work-based Learning (L5)
PhD supervision
Trishna Khanom (2025 -) Cognitive Insights into Leadership: Empowering the Voices of British Bangladeshi Women in the UK
Denise Bowes (2016-2020), An Aspirations-led Capabilities Approach to Women's Career Pathways in Quantity Surveying
I'm interested in supervising PhDs in the broad area of sociology of work and employment, including gender, race, ethnicity and work; culture and ideology of professional occupations; climate change and work.
Research
My recent research has been concerned with the implications of climate change for work, specifically the building construction occupations, such as architects and building workers.
Climate change and the architectural profession (2021- 2023)
This study investigates the implications of climate change for the architectural profession. The research will involve analysis of documents, interviews with architects, and case study examples of sustainable architecture in the public and private sectors, both new and retrofit.
Building it Green (2021-2023):
The aim of the programme is to embed climate literacy into skilled trades education and training in Canada. Funded by the Canadian Federal Government and commissioned by CBTU (Canada’s Building Trades Unions), in partnership with Skill Plan, the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation, and Climate, Industry and Research Team (CIRT). ProBE is part of (CIRT) whose members are: Professor John Calvert (Simon Fraser University), Professor Vivian Price (California State University), Pier-Luc Bilodeau (Universitat Laval), Evelyn Dionne (Universitet Laval), Lee Loftus (CBTU), Professor Linda Clarke, Dr Melahat Sahin-Dikmen (University of Westminster) and Professor Christopher Winch (King's College). The UK team is responsible for identifying and evaluating climate literacy initiatives from Europe.
Publications
For details of all my research outputs, visit my WestminsterResearch profile.