I am a Senior Lecturer of Education and Educational Psychology who is passionate about helping teachers action research to support their own and their students' motivation, engagement, wellbeing, and sense of connection at school.

My leadership in teacher education spans curriculum design, pedagogy, and research literacy and training. I have led and coordinated development of new undergraduate and postgraduate units spanning introductory education units, educational psychology, and research in education. My leadership ensures that we are using student voice and large-scale data to inform pedagogy and practice in teacher education. Outside of teacher education, I frequently engage with and consult for school and government stakeholders to help integrate the latest research into their practice. I also run a series of workshops regarding quantitative research methods and analysis for higher degree research students and early career researchers to enhance all educational researchers' literacy in quantitative methods. 

My own research focuses on the socio-motivational mechanisms that operate within a school and I examine these via large-scale quantitative methods and integrated theoretical approaches. Currently, I am focused on the role of teacher-student relationships in secondary school, how these are experienced by both students and teachers, and how these relationships impact both parties' motivation, engagement, and wellbeing outcomes at school. To investigate these areas, I use advanced quantitative research methodology, such as latent growth modelling and multi-level structural equation modelling. I examine both primary datasets of Australian adolescents and teachers, as well as large-scale secondary datasets, such as PISA.

I have won numerous international and national grants, including an ARC DECRA fellowship, ARC Discovery Project, and Spencer Foundation Award, to conduct this research. I also use my research as an opportunity to build collaborative and cross-discplinary teams that include academics, higher degree research students, and emerging undergraduate researchers. 

I am available to supervise research students who are interested in teachers and students motivation, teacher-student relationships, sense of beloning, school climate, and quantitative methods.