I am an interdisciplinary social scientist in the University of York Science Education Group (UYSEG), where I am senior lecturer and Director of Education for Environmental Sustainability at York.  My research focuses on environmental, political and philosophical issues associated with science education and youth participation in environmental decision-making. 

I am interested in formal and non-formal education and am currently working on interdisciplinary approaches to science and environmental education through Science Beyond the Boundaries, and on Game Changers, an innovative approach to climate change communication. I  recently co-led DICEY (Dialogue on Climate Engineering with Youth), funded by UKRI and RSA and the British Educational Research Association 2021 Research Commission on Education for Environmental Sustainability and a systematic review of primary science education.

I have previously focused research on primary science education, conducting a systematic review for the Education Endowment Foundation, and on how young people learn through opportunities for students to ask and investigate their own questions about science, for example through independent research projects or philosophical dialogue in science. 

My background is in science education and public engagement.  From 2008 until 2011 I was a researcher at the University of Ulster, where my work focused on public engagement with science and continuing professional development of teachers.  Through the Forward Thinking (Wellcome Trust) and Primary Communties of Scientific Enquiry (AZSTT) projects, I developed resources and approaches for promoting discussion about controversial social and ethical issues in the sciences.  Prior to this, I taught science in schools in the UK, USA and Mexico, and was a Gatsby Teaching Fellow from 2003 - 2004.  

I am currently programme leader for the MSc Environmental Sustainability Education and Communication.  In 2018, I was awarded a Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching.

My current research focuses on environmental, political and philosophical issues associated with secondary science education and on youth participation in environmental decision-making.