I am a social scientist who works at the intersection of digital cultures, food studies and urban geography.

Broadly, I am interested in the role digital technologies play in contemporary experiences of the city and how those experiences in turn shape the horizons of possibility for social and ecological justice.

I joined the school of Media, Culture and Heritage in the spring of 2024. Before coming to Newcastle, I was an Associate Professor of Geography at Worcester State University (2016-2023) and a postdoctoral fellow in Spatial Humanities at Rice University (2015-2016). I earned my doctorate from the Department of Geography at University of California, Berkeley (2015) with a designated emphasis in Global Metropolitan Studies.

My ares of interest include: the digital mediation of urban life, sustainable food systems, digital labour, community organising, theory and change in cultural landscapes, critical GIS / critical cartography, digital geographies, radical imaginaries of the future.

Beyond my day job, I am avidly and amateurishly trying to grow food at an allotment, at the cinema, or wandering the region by foot and cycle.

Research Interests

• the digital mediation of urban life
• sustainable food systems
• digital labour
• community organising
• theory and change in cultural landscapes
• urban histories
• critical GIS / critical cartography
• digital geographies
• radical imaginaries of the future

Current Projects

From Farm to Cable: Digital Mediation of Rural Places and Urban Spaces.

Throughout my career, I have looked in various ways at how digital technologies -- especially web and mobile based social networks--are used in "alternative food movements," often asking how long standing understandings of the agro-food system as it relates to urban life are taken up and transformed through the use of digital tools. In this project, I am examining how digital representations of agro-food systems are altering perceptions of what constitutes sustainable lives in the Global North. Alongside a growing interest in ‘green’ and sustainable practices, social media platforms have made it possible for urban dwellers to view rural spaces and develop a sense of connection with specific farms and farmers, and I am interested in how those perceived connections shape practices. Through a mixture of visual analysis, semi-structured interviews and critical cartography, this project offers new insights into how digital platforms mediate the social and spatial relations of food systems.  

Silicon’s Back Yard: Legacies and Futures of the Urban Landscape that Tech Built

This ongoing project, in collaboration with Will Payne of Rutgers Univeristy, examines how the tech economy shapes urban regions, not just through gig work and smart city platforms, but also through literally constructing a built environment to suit its needs and develop a specific 'sense of place' for digital labour. Our case study of the high-tech manufacturing region outside of Boston, Massachusetts, brings together innovative analysis of historic maps, corporate and state archives, and contemporary visualizations to argue that a great deal of capital, labor and space in suburban Massachusetts is still dedicated to the physical and technical systems upon which the digital economy depends 

Undergraduate

MCH2004 - Media Fusions: Creative & Collaborative Projects (module co-leader)

MCH2091 - Collaborating in Digital Cultures (module leader)

MCH1001 - Introduction to Digital Cultures (workshops)

MCH1002 - Skills and Methods in Digital Cultures (workshops)

Postgraduate Taught

MCH8299 - Dissertation for MA Media and Journalism (dissertation advisor)