I joined the Engineering department at Edinburgh in the summer of 2022. I hope to put my wide-ranging experience of working with students and young people to good use in the role of student adviser for first-year Mechanical Engineering and Electrical & Mechanical Engineering UGs and MSc Sustainable Energy Systems students.

Previously, I worked at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow as a Knowledge Exchange Associate on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in Scottish Heritage project. Working with academics, Scottish heritage sector partners, community organisations and young people, I was involved in impact-related work that explored, evaluated and addressed key EDI challenges and issues related to race in the Scottish heritage sector, with the aim of democratising access and participation. I participated in reviewing and evaluating current and past race-related heritage projects, led surveys of heritage sector professionals and interviews/focus groups with community groups, and coordinated the establishment of work placement projects for young people designed to address key issues in the sector and act as templates for future race and heritage related work.

I completed my PhD at Newcastle University, where I also studied for my MA Geography Research and BA Geography degrees. My PhD explored the experiences of LGBT+ British Muslims, focusing specifically on three areas: constructions, spaces and negotiations of the materialities and metaphors of 'the closet’ and LGBT+ British Muslim reflections on the Eurocentricity of representations of sexual identities; urban encounters of race, nationhood and belonging and their relationships with (geo)political events; and the religious practices, spaces and everyday forms of resistance that LGBT+ British Muslims use to affirm what are often represented and/or (mis)understood as incongruent identities and communities.

I have previously been involved in research highlighting and addressing equality, diversity and inclusion issues at Newcastle University. I worked on two strands: experiences of everyday sexism on campus and the experiences of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students and staff. I have also worked on research on young Scottish people’s understanding of everyday geopolitics, belonging and nationhood, Black and Asian gay and bisexual experiences of London’s Soho gay scene, as well as a project exploring the transitions and mentoring of first-year students from a widening-participation scheme.