My work within Human Geography and Development Studies is informed by interdisciplinary perspectives and scholar-activism. Concerns for equity and justice are at the heart of my scholarship. I channel these concerns into participatory, cross-cultural and creative research approaches which grapple with enduring challenges associated with forced migration, refugee resettlement, Indigenous-non-Indigenous relating, and climate change adaptation. I draw from place-based, long-term and often politically-complex empirical partnerships with diverse communities to inform research publicaitons, advisory positions and international collaborations. I publish academic and popular outputs to influence disciplinary developments and social change. Through this work, I aim to contribute to more imaginative, just and sustainable futures.

Growing out of my sustained action-oriented scholarship with refugee-background young people and resettlement agencies, I also coordinate the National Tertiary Network to Support Refugee-Background Learners in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this capacity, I led the development of the inaugural Best Practice Guidelines to Support Refugee-Background Tertiary Learners, published by the Tertiary Education Commission in 2023, and collaborate with learners, professional and academic staff across the country to advance calls for educational equity for this learner group. I also contribute my knowledge and reseach insights into advisory roles with government and non-governmental agencies, and integrate it into my teaching at all levels.

I was born in the 'Black Country' of the English West MIdlands and completed my undergraduate degree in Geography at the University of Durham, UK (1986-89). I then worked in Spain and Costa Rica before completing a masters degree in Geography at the University of Waterloo, Canada, including fieldwork within the Bali Sustainable Development Project, Indonesia (1990-93). I migrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1994 and for most of the first decade here collaborated with Geoff Hume-Cook and members of Te Iwi o Ngāti Hauiti in the Rangatīkei on a participatory video for research project exploring relationships between place, identity and social cohesion. I gained my PhD in Geography from the University of Waikato, New Zealand in 2012 focusing on this collaboration. During my life in Aotearoa New Zealand, I have been working at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and have occupied a number of leadership roles, becoming the first female Professor of Human Geography and Development Studies in 2020.