I joined the University in 2006 as a Teaching Fellow, before becoming a lecturer. I have always liked the green environment at the University. Few people can boast that their law school looks out on a lake!
I teach the public law courses, a constitutional law module, administrative law and human rights. I also teach legal philosophy and a University-wide module called "Liberty" with input from classics, history and philosophy.
I joined the University in 1989 as a Lecturer, then became a Senior Lecturer in 1998, until I was accorded a Personal Chair in 2005. I specialise in food engineering, specifically applying my training in chemical engineering to food products and manufacture.
Having been at Reading for over three decades, I've seen a lot of change - but one thing that hasn't altered is the collegiate environment. The University is very supportive, and it's always been very collegiate - particularly in my Department - and I've really enjoyed that.
I have worked at the University of Reading in the Global Academy since 2019. I first came to Reading to teach temporarily on the summer Pre-sessional English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programme. I was living on a houseboat in Oxford at the time, after returning from some time teaching in South East Asia. I fell in love with the beautiful Whiteknights campus and met some very friendly and kind colleagues during that time. I was therefore very pleased to be offered a succession of further work in Global Academy after that summer, which resulted in my husband and I moving to Reading permanently. Shortly after this I secured a permanent lecturer position here.
In 2012 I joined the University and started teaching evening classes in Italian. In 2013 I was offered the chance to teach an Italian and Spanish course on the undergraduate programme of the Institution-Wide Language Programme (IWLP). This is a programme at Reading that enables students to learn a language as part of their degree or for personal development; it's also open to staff at the University.
I started with a few hours and now, after five years, I work as a teacher and module convenor for Spanish and British Sign Language (BSL). I've always been a teacher and like to pass on my knowledge and passion for languages to my students. I believe that "teaching skills make you skilful".
