I am an enthusiastic and dedicated freelancer who enjoys working collaboratively. I've worked on projects to bring many different people and perspectives together - artists, schoolchildren, health patients, MPs, ex-offenders, academics, community organisations, doctors, university students, policymakers - and specialise in practical work addressing systemic social issues.
If your company, organisation or community would like to work with me, please get in touch to discuss your ideas. A few recent examples are given below.
If your company, organisation or community would like to work with me, please get in touch to discuss your ideas. A few recent examples are given below.
Walking trails
I can run any of my existing Storywalks for a particular group or organisation. I can also produce, and/or run, a walking trail at a particular place, to suit your needs. I conceptualised, researched, designed and produced the 'Highland Herbs' walking trail for the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore, using material from their archives and on site. |
Research
I have a degree in Social Anthropology and 15 years' experience of research with communities, under-represented groups, archive material, and land-based experiential research. Watch a clip from Plantlife Scotland's short film about the Cairngorms Wild Plants Project. I conducted research locally on any remaining Strathspey dialect names for plants and trees. |
Foraged tea tastings
I can offer seasonal tea and cordial tastings based on historical research of the Highlands, at events or for particular groups, as a stall and/or as a walk. I was invited to participate in the Woodland Trust's Forest Festival at the Highland Folk Museum 2016-2018, making teas over a firepit with locally-foraged ingredients, all with historic or current relevance to the area. |
Other ideas...
I am open to other suggestions of work where we have joint interests. Please feel free to drop me a line. |
Areas of interest
The relationships between people and plants in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland - how plants and trees have been seen and used, medicinally, for food, or other uses; nature-based words in Gaelic dialects, particularly Strathspey & Badenoch Gaelic; Gaelic song linked to human-land relationships and/or working songs; encouraging the everyday use of Gaelic, as a language of this land; the 'missing' voices from historical or current narratives, and shifting that narrative; education to encourage new perspectives and critical thinking; social inequalities; systems change, particularly with a focus on communities and climate change; future-focused placemaking. |