People · Practice · Process

Milo Coffey is a PhD researcher and Wales Graduate School for the Social Sciences scholar at Swansea University, Wales. His research is focused on the interface between lexical semantics and healthcare communication, specifically how synonymy impacts patient understanding of medical terminology. He has previously worked as a research assistant on a project led by Professor Tess Fitzpatrick (Swansea University) and funded by HEFCW (now Medr), which aimed to investigate patient understanding of words used in cancer communication, and with the Welsh Government as a PhD intern to develop an evaluation plan for the CAMHS In-Reach to Schools initiative.

Michelle Buckley is a professional dancer based in London who has performed internationally across ballet, contemporary dance, musical theatre, and opera. She is undertaking an AHRC M4C-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award with Coventry University and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD). Her research combines archival practice with digital engagement, exploring the history of dance pedagogy through the creation and reactivation of the ISTD archive and the themes of empire, identity, and gender.

Victoria Bird is a PhD student in Theology whose research examines the different endings of the Gospel of Mark and how they shape the narrative and its interpretation. Her work involves a methodological approach that integrates narrative and historical perspectives. Her broader research interests include New Testament textual criticism, the reception history of the Bible, and the historical contexts of the first and second centuries CE.

Rob Nield is a PhD researcher at the University of Birmingham, working on British Romantic Poetry in English, Scots, and Scottish Gaelic. His thesis, Glories Overthrown, examines nostalgia in Romantic poetry across social, cultural, and linguistic boundaries. He is in receipt of AHRC funding via the Midlands4Cities consortium.

Rene is a fourth-year PhD researcher in Linguistics (Modern Languages) at the University of Nottingham. He advocates for Indigenous minority language maintenance and conservation. Hence, his project focuses on how language planning and policy influence Manobo people’s repertoires, practices, attitudes, and ideologies in the multilingual ecology of Lumintao Barangay in south-central Philippines.

Xena Lewis is a doctoral researcher at the University of Nottingham. Her research focuses on sucrose crystallisation and the development of imaging and data-analysis methods for studying crystal growth. Her work combines laboratory experiments with computational methods for data collection and analysis. Faced with extensive literature during her PhD, Xena explored AI tools as a practical way to work through sources more efficiently. She began using Google NotebookLM to organise literature, compare ideas across texts and produce source-linked summaries. At the conference, she will demonstrate how she used the platform and reflect on its practical benefits, limitations and responsible use.