School of Social and Political Science

Background

My doctoral research examines food practices as a site where class identity and the migrant experience meet. Focusing on a recent wave of Spanish migrants in Edinburgh, I use qualitative methods to explore how these Spanish migrants understand and negotiate their pre- and post-migration class identities by cultural means, with a particular focus on food-related practices — cooking, shopping, eating, and talking about food. My approach combines open-ended interviews with photo elicitation, working with participants who have settled in Scotland across a wide range of timeframes. Drawing on a Bourdieusian framework, I ask how everyday food practices carry meanings of class and belonging, and what talk about food can reveal about the relationship between class and national identity after migration.

Supervisors

• Dr Isabelle Darmon (School of Social and Political Science)
• Ross Bond (School of Social and Political Science)

Qualifications

BA with Honors in Sociology with Psychology, Edinburgh Napier University

MRes in Socio-Cultural Studies, The University of Edinburgh

Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy (AFHEA), 2019

Teaching experience

Tutor: Key Concepts in Global Social Change

Tutor: Sociology 1A: The Sociological Imagination I

Tutor: Sociology 1B: Private Troubles, Public Problems

Facilitator: The Social Life of Food

Research experience

• 2026 — Peer Researcher, "Better Mixing" project (Nuffield Foundation-funded), Migration Policy Scotland 
• 2019 — Impact Assessment on the Carbon Free Food project by Fyne Futures Ltd., Isle of Bute. Commissioned by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and the Scottish Government.
• 2013 — Research Internship, Parental Engagement in Primary and Secondary Education, Learning Directorate, The Scottish Government

Presentations

• 24 June 2026 — "Nutritionism among Spanish migrants in Edinburgh: Distinction, alimentality and the politics of the plate", Bridg'it Network Annual Workshop, Institute of Social Sciences (ICS), University of Lisbon, Portugal
• 31 May 2022 — "The multiple meanings of a migrant's table", FRIED Postgraduate Conference, University of Edinburgh
• 20 April 2017 — "The Flag as a Tablecloth: Food Practices of the New Spanish Immigrant Community in Edinburgh", 'New Directions' sociology conference, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh
• 18 May 2017 — "The performance of collective food practices by Spanish migrants in Edinburgh", 'Bridg'it!' INRA–IFRO–FRIED workshop, Gif-sur-Yvette (Paris), France

Awards

• 2018 — Alice Brown Scholarship

Memberships

• Member, British Sociological Association
• Member, Association for the Study of Food and Society
• Member, Food Researchers in Edinburgh (FRIED) network