I have been with Newcastle University since 1999, though my first proper job way back in 1989 was on campus in the Gulbenkian Studio Theatre as Assistant Adminstrator. I spent the next ten years working in theatre, contemporary dance, and live art marketing,  management and production, making use of my degree in History of Modern Art, Design and Film, before changing direction in 1999 and joining Newcastle University to work as a project manager and latterly a Senior Advisor nationally as part of the now defunct Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine, which was a satellite of the Higher Education Academy until March 2012.

My interests since have always centred around how technology can facilitate learning, around open and collaborative approaches to this facilitation and on the issues which prevent working openly and collaboratively.

I have been central to all 7 projects MEDEV was awarded from all three years of the JISC and HEA managed  UKOER programme, with overarching themes of overcoming barriers to sharing in our subject areas, including consent, copyright, ownership and licensing, as well as using published works appropriately, and finding techniques and tools to make creating and using learning and teaching resources easier and more efficient for staff and students.

Most recently I have been working with colleagues in QuILT to promote consideration of copyright in lecture capture, stimulate interest in and uptake of ePortfolio across the institution, and helping support online assessment and feedback.

I am interested in what the possibilities are in using open online courses and social media to promote the work of the University.

In my spare time I knit, make knitting and technology focussed art, cook (a lot) and torture myself in barre classes. I like soup and cats.