Fellow of The Higher Education Academy

PhD in Archaeology from the Univeristy of the Highlands and Islands/Open University

I started teaching at the UHI in the latter stages of my doctoral research in 2004. I taught modules for Tourism and Culture Studies before joining Archaeology in 2008. I am a part-time lecturer and I mainly teach medieval and later archaeology and research skills on our Masters programmes.

My research focuses on landscapes of religion and power in the North Atlantic with specific reference to the joint Orkney and Caithness Earldoms. My theses and subsequent research looks into castles and high status buildings, churches, parochial organisation and pilgrimage. Another of my research strands is the history of traditional song with specific reference to the journeys of songs within the Orcadian diaspora. I am currently CoPI on a 3-year AHRC-DFG funded project researching the commercialisation of trade in the Northern Isles in the early modern period.