Nikki is a Research Fellow at the Rees Centre. Her work aims to identify ways for foster carers and educators to support looked after children.
Research topics include mental health and well-being, and experiences in education and in care. She supervises doctoral and master’s students on related topics, and teaches sessions on the PGCE course as well as on the use of systematic review techniques in the social sciences.
Nikki did her PhD on the social understanding, empathy and peer relationships of children in care. Her recent projects include an evaluation of foster carer support groups, an exploration of how experiences in care and education are linked to GCSE outcomes, and the development of a training and assessment package that brings together foster carers and schools to support children’s well-being. She was also part of the Evaluation Coordinators team on Wave 1 of the DfE’s Children’s Social Care Innovations Programme.
Nikki is an Associate of the Higher Education Academy and is an Associate Lecturer in Psychology at The Open University.
- Part of the editorial board for Developmental Child Welfare
- Reviewer for Child Abuse Review, Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Cognition and Emotion, Child and Family Social Work, Children and Youth Services Review, Development and Psychopathology, Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, Evaluation and Program Planning, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
- Reviewer for the Economic and Social Research Council (proposals) and the National Institute for Health Research (final report)
