My broad research interest is in identifying systems and approaches that promote effective social work with children and families.

My PhD topic is leadership and the question I ask is ‘what is leadership in child protection services?’. Although leadership is considered important for steering improvement in the children’s social care sector, the existing knowledge base is extremely limited. My aim is to advance leadership theory through an ethnographic study of leaders and leadership in local authority children’s services.

I retrained as a social worker in 2010 following an early career as a management consultant. My focus in recent years has been on child wellbeing and child protection and I have had interesting and varied roles in social work practice and research in England and Australia.