A Deaf native signer, I have been involved with sign language teaching and research for a many years. Before joining DCAL I was Teacher Coordinator at City Lit in London. Also, I taught at the National Institute for Deaf Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia for a number of years before joining the Australian Sign Language Lexicography Project at Renwick College, The University of Newcastle in Sydney as Research Associate.


In 2010 I won the Provost's Award for Public Engagement in the Researcher category and with colleagues, organised a DCAL Deaf Open Day in 2010 and a DCAL Deaf Roadshow in 2011 (with the support of UCL Beacons for Public Engagement and the BSL Corpus Project) which visited Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and Newcastle, where Deaf people were able to attend public engagement sessions and find out about the research being done at DCAL, and have the opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback and make suggestions on future research projects. In 2017 I was nominated for a Students Choice Teaching Award from the UCL Students Union.

Outside of DCAL I am Vice Chair of Governors at Frank Barnes School. I am also Co-ordinator of the World Federation of the Deaf Expert Group on Sign Language and Deaf Studies and a Trustee of the British Deaf Association.