Rebecca is an interdisciplinary social researcher with a background in Sociology, Gender Studies, Cultural Studies and Public Health. She is currently working on the Resourcing Safety project and has also led a Contextual Safeguarding pilot in Scottish secondary schools. Additionally, she has provided analytic and methodological support on other key Contextual Safeguarding research projects.
Rebecca’s research has focused on young people’s substance use, with particular attention on vulnerable populations. Rebecca came to the Contextual Safeguarding research team with UK and international research experience around young people’s substance use - including research posts with Newcastle University (in the Population Health Sciences Institute), Sydney University and The University of New South Wales. Rebecca is skilled and experienced at developing partnership-based research projects to enhance the wellbeing of vulnerable adolescents, developed through projects such as the NIHR-funded SOLID (Supporting Looked After Children and Care Leavers in Decreasing Drugs and Alcohol) - a large, mixed-method study involving close collaboration with local authorities and regional Children in Care councils. Rebecca’s writing is well-regarded, having been published in journals such as Child Abuse and Neglect and Contemporary Drug Problems, as well as in The Sage Handbook of Drug and Alcohol Studies.