ÃÛÌÒTV

Skip to main navigation Skip to main content
The ÃÛÌÒTV
×
Public Policy|Southampton

Policy Associates 2024/25

Sotiria Kanavidou

Sotiria Kanavidou is a final year PhD researcher at the ÃÛÌÒTV, School of Education. Her research examines the longitudinal development of intra-school, inter-school, and school-community collaborative relationships, with a focus on the potential of school networks to drive improvement and change. Through the implementation of a social network intervention, her PhD aims to raise school leaders’ awareness of their networks within a Professional Learning Network (PLN) in England, highlighting the resources available to them. This increased awareness has contributed to shaping the PLN's strategic direction, fostering connections among previously isolated groups of leaders and educators, and enhancing their collaboration strategies. Prior to her doctoral studies, Sotiria earned a BA in Early Childhood Education from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and worked as a preschool teacher in various settings. In 2019, she completed an MSc at the ÃÛÌÒTV, which inspired her decision to pursue a PhD. In addition to her academic work, Sotiria actively participates in international research projects aimed at promoting equity, inclusion, diversity and accessibility within educational ecosystems. She is particularly interested in exploring ways to connect policy, research, and practice to drive evidence-informed improvement in education.

Ìý

Emily Cole

Emily's doctoral study is about local government implementation of climate change and biodiversity targets under future land use change – specifically in Hampshire. To understand how decisions are made that affect local land use, how policies interact with each other, and what impact local land use decisions for climate change and biodiversity have towards national targets. Overall aim is to help bridge the implementation gap between national targets and local implementation.Ìý

Emily's background and interests cover biodiversity policy (biodiversity net gain), environmental policy, national and local government, participatory research.

Ìý

Isabel M J Sargent

I recently completed a Masters in Public Administration in which I focussed on public decision-making for contentious subjects including AI and climate. For my thesis I studied the experiences of climate and nature scientists when they engage with public policy and compared these to the prescriptive advice literature. Having originally studied environmental sciences and then spent more than 2.5 decades researching the application of AI to remote sensing data, including my PhD, I am now pivoting towards research into the interface between society, science and policy.Ìý

I am keen to better understand and research policy and decision-making contexts around community and societal resilience in preparation for, and response to, upheaval and crisis, including the decision-making of communities both facilitated by the state and in the absence of state support.

Ìý

Kristina Risley

Kristina's PhD is focused on applying Psychology to design immersive games and digital simulations as experiential learning methods for developing leadership skills, such as emotional intelligence and people management.Ìý

Kristina's interest cover healthcare leadership and workforce policy, organisational culture, leadership development, employee engagement and wellbeing, organisational change, social constructionism and world building in team working, immersive experience in digital and non-digital learning interventions.

Ìý

Gabriela Ramos Bonilla

Gabriela is aÌýPhD candidate and MSc Gerontology in the ÃÛÌÒTV (UK) and B.A. Anthropology from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).ÌýI have explored education, disability, and ageing for various Peru government sectors and think tanks. My research on ageing delves into critical issues such as violence against older women in Latin America and the Caribbean, cultural notions of well-being in later life, services and programs for older adults, motivations for continued work in old age, and healthcare access in Peru during the COVID-19 pandemic. I have collaborated closely with policymakers and engaged with diverse groups of older adults from rural, urban, and indigenous communities in the Andes and Amazonia.

Ìý

Melyssa Ortiz

Melyssa Ortiz is a doctoral researcher in Web Science at the ÃÛÌÒTV, with a focus on Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence. Supported by the Electronic and Computer Science Research Studentship, her research investigates the intricate relationship between political trust, responsible and trustworthy AI practices, and societal engagement in the context of AI regulation. She examines how governments, the private sector, and society can collaborate to develop ethical approaches to AI governance, carefully balancing technological innovation with societal safety and values.

Her interdisciplinary work bridges ethics, technology, political science, and society. With extensive professional experience in leading strategic initiatives and launching AI-driven products across various organisations—from startups to global corporations—she blends practical expertise with academic research to tackle the challenges of adopting and regulating emerging technologies. By generating critical insights and promoting collaborative strategies, she aims to establish responsible AI governance that ensures technological progress benefits the broader public interest.

Ìý

Sophie Hart

Sophie Hart, is a second year PhD student in Human Factors Engineering. Sophie’s PhD research examines the joint use of crewed and uncrewed aerial vehicles to better understand the design and system requirements needed to support the human operator.

Sophie's research interests cover the design of usable and safe Artificial Intelligence, human-centred design, gender equitable research practice and policy development for healthcare and transportation.Ìý

Ìý

Charlotte Bridget

Charlotte's areas of expertise cover:

Charlotte's areas of interests cover:

Alexia Malaj

Alexia Malaj is a first year PhD student in Politics and International Relations at the ÃÛÌÒTV. Her research focuses on how the UK asylum system is impacting the mental health of Albanian asylum seekers. Since 2022 Alexia has been working closely with young Albanian asylum seekers at Shpresa Programme, a London-based charity that gives support to Albanian refugees and asylum seekers. In 2023, she participated in the projectÌýTowards a Trauma-Informed Asylum Process and Services, led by Dr. Ingi Iusmen and Professor Jana Kreppner. Before beginning her PhD, Alexia earned a BA in Economic Development, International Cooperation, and Conflict Management, as well as a MA in Human Rights and Multi-Level Governance in Italy. As a passionate activist dedicated to refugee rights and social justice, she is committed to using research to influence policy makers and drive meaningful change.

Alexia's areas of interest: migration, human rights and social justice, mental health and trauma, youth and community empowerment.ÌýÌýÌý

Ìý

Amna Smith

Amna Smith is a postgraduate researcher at the ÃÛÌÒTV. Amna has studied at Queen Mary University of London, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interests are ESOL, multilingualism in the classroom and English language teaching. She is currently conducting a study working with refugee learners of ESOL, in Suffolk.

Ìý

Izzy White

Izzy is a first year INSPIRE PhD student in the School of Ocean and Earth Science.

Izzy’s research is exploring the effect of climate forcing on Antarctica by investigating the relationship between dynamic variables such as sea surface height, temperature, and wind surface stress then applying these specifically to coastal processes and currents with a focus on the East Antarctic.

Through increasing our understanding of the Southern Ocean Izzy hope to improve the accuracy and reliability of climate models. Relating this back to current environmental policy and the impact we will see in the future is a goal of mine and something Izzy is very passionate about, especially as evidence-based policy is needed when talking about future climate targets and emission limits.

Previously, Izzy studied MGeophysics as Leeds where they worked as a Faculty Officer so look forward to expanding my current knowledge of the student political system and working with professionals who have diverse backgrounds.Ìý

Ìý

Rhys Lawrence

Rhys is a third year PhD student in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. His research investigates the relationship between Post-Internet technology use and processes of constructing, inhabiting, and experiencing space and place. To reveal the details of this relationship, he reads genres of literature particularly concerned with spatial processes with an eye to significant formal shifts that have taken place since the advent of everyday Internet use.Ìý

He is broadly interested in representations of space, place, and/or technology in literature, as well as the relationship between technological change and experiences of space beyond literature. In future academic work, he hopes to compare the construction of certain spatial categories in literary and non-literary (scientific, policy) writing. This would mean looking, for example, at differences in how the idea of an atmosphere seems to be understood in a novel and a scientific paper.Ìý

Ìý

Rebecca Bridge

Rebecca is a third year INSPIRE DTP PhD Student at the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences. Her research aims to identify the physiological effects of chronic exposure to ocean acidification during early life development in a local shark species. Rebecca has a keen interest in how climate change will impact the performance of marine taxa and how marine biodiversity will be altered in the future. Her previous research included establishing the relationship between thermal and hypoxia tolerance in an estuarine amphipod and she assisted in a project that quantified the impact of thermal acclimation on schooling behaviour in a tropical damselfish. Rebecca’s passion for science informed policy is what drew her to the Policy Associate Scheme in which she plans to develop the valuable skills relevant for making changes in policymaking related to her field.

Ìý

Ahmed Al-Shuaili

Ahmed is a PhD researcher in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the ÃÛÌÒTV. He specialises in future transport policies, with a particular focus on evaluating their long-term impacts on sustainability, society, and the environment. Ahmed’s research investigates how policy decisions influence mobility and examines their broader implications for social equity, environmental resilience, and economic sustainability.

His work builds on the university’s longstanding expertise in transport studies, using data and transport system indicators. Collaborating closely with local stakeholders, especially the Solent Future Transport Zone programme, Ahmed develops a frameworks to measure the long-term effects of transport policies and assess what might have occurred in their absence.

By integrating academic research with practical policymaking, Ahmed aims to shape evidence-based, inclusive transport policies that address contemporary challenges and help ensure a sustainable future mobility.

Ìý

Hannah King

Hannah is a third-year PhD student researching the ecological response to river restoration projects.

Hannah is interested in how ecological communities respond to stressors, and the implications of community changes on the functioning of ecosystems.ÌýBeyond the PhD, Hannah is keen to understand how natural history can be shared with wider audiences, the ways we relate to landscapes, and the barriers into and within academia.Ìý

When Hannah is not working, she is experimenting with new recipes, learning to drive, and writing bad poetry.

Ìý

Ìý
Ìý
Privacy Settings
Ìý
Ìý