Natalie is currently undertaking her PhD in Politics at the University of Leeds. Her research focuses on the UK’s Counter-terrorism policy ‘Prevent’ where she is conducting an intersectional feminist analysis of experiences of the Prevent Duty in the Further Education sector. She holds a BA(hons) in Politics and an MSc in Politics and Research Methods from the University of Sheffield.

Natalie’s research is inspired by an interest in how we understand the “terrorist” and “extremist”, what labels we use to define them, and therefore how we approach countering and ‘de-radicalising’ them. More recently, her interests have been shaped by the normalisation of counter-terrorism through the introduction of the Prevent Duty, a statutory obligation for public sector workers to protect those vulnerable to engaging in terrorist or extremist activity. Focusing on the sector of further education, Natalie’s research is underpinned by intersectional feminism to uncover the layers of privilege and oppression in experiences of the Prevent Duty which help us understand how gender, social class, ethnicity, sexuality, (dis)ability, amongst others, influence the way we view who the terrorist is and how we go about ‘Preventing’ them.

Natalie has presented her research at a number of conferences and is currently working towards publications whilst teaching undergraduates within the School of Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds. She also works on outreach programmes as an Education Outreach Fellow and Widening Participation Officer to encourage students to engage with political studies.

Specialist research areas:

Prevent; British values; intersectionality; feminism; Counter-terrorism; UK Counter-terrorism policy; education; extremism; radicalisation.