I joined the University of Huddersfield in 2009, where I am now a Senior Lecturer in Criminology. In 2023, I received my PhD from the University for research into the association between psychopathic traits, intelligence and emotional responding using EEG and advanced statistical techniques. Prior to this, I was awarded a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and an MSc in Forensic Psychology from Coventry University. I have also worked for the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) conducting research in prisons.

At present, I am engaged in research funded by the National Police Wellbeing Service and An Garda Síochána (Ireland's National Police and Security Service) to understand the psychological effects of police work and conduct a Rapid Evidence Assessment on the effectiveness of support frameworks and interventions. In collaboration with colleagues from the Applied Criminology and Policing Centre (APCP), we recieved the Wayman Mullins best journal article of the year (2017) award from the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology for our work ‘Dealing with the Unthinkable: A Study of the Cognitive and Emotional Stress of Adult and Child Homicide Investigations on Police Investigators'. 

Previously, in my role as Co-Investigator (Work Package Leader) with the None in Three (Ni3) research centre, I was responsible for the analysis of international survey data on child maltreatment and co-ordinated trials for the evaluation of a prosocial gaming intervention across four countries. I have also undertaken NHS and EU-FP7 funded research on the impact of parental involvement in the criminal justice system on children and families; conducted an independent evaluation of the National Offender's Families Helpline; and collaborated with Barnardo's to develop a quality assurance tool for the evaluation of research and evidence concerning children of offenders.