Research Community

Alison Cotton is a final year PhD student at Oxford Brookes University.  Her research is around the educational attainment and Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) of children from UK Armed Forces families. Alison has used the National Pupil Database (NPD) for England to compare the GCSE outcomes and SEND rates and types between Service children and non-Service children. Prior to starting her PhD, Alison had a teaching career spanning 23 years with extensive experience of working with learners who have SEND. She is a qualified Specialist Teacher who holds Associate Membership of the British Dyslexia Association (AMBDA) and an Assessment Practising Certificate (APC).  Being from a military family herself, Alison hopes to use her knowledge and research to improve outcomes for Armed Forces families.

Amanda Bonson is a PhD student and a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Therapist. She currently works as a Research Therapist at Combat Stress, the UK's leading Veterans' mental health charity, where she is delivering a novel treatment of moral injury to military Veterans. Amanda's PhD thesis will be an exploration of predictors of treatment outcomes for UK military Veterans with moral injury. Amanda has a special interest in translational research in clinical treatment of trauma, particularly in military and Veteran populations. 

Amy is a first-year PhD student based at Newcastle University. Having recently left the Royal Air Force after a varied career in the service and having directly experienced the gender culture of the UK Armed Forces, she is excited to start her PhD in Human Geography. Her research will examine how gender and the other multitude of conflicting intersectional identities of military personnel impact the social construction and speciality of the RAF. Often viewed as homogenous, Amy is focused on understanding how the RAF’s unique organisational culture and varying sub-cultures based on rank and role impact the social construction of RAF culture. Underpinning her data collection with reflexivity through her position as an RAF Veteran, Amy is excited to commence the project to support cultural understanding and effect change. 

Anna is a Research Associate at KCMHR where she currently leads the qualitative component of ADVANCE-INVEST, a long-term project investigating the experiences and outcomes of battlefield casualties who have left the military. She has previously worked on KCMHR 'Support to Families of Wounded, Injured, or Sick (WIS) Service Personnel – An Investigation of Current Service Provision' Study and 'Potential Gaps and Service Parents’ and Adolescents’ Challenges and Experiences' Study. Anna is particularly interested in post-deployment transition, Veterans and their families, peer support and co-production, Serving/ex-Serving fathers with PTSD and their families, and WIS Service personnel.

Bethany Croak is a PhD student and researcher at the King’s Centre for Military Health Research.   Bethany worked in NHS mental health services before joining King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR), King’s College London, four years ago. She has collaborated on various research projects focusing on the mental health of ex-Armed Forces personnel. Bethany is currently working as a research assistant on a project that aims to identify barriers to female Veterans making a successful transition into civilian life.  Bethany’s PhD focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health, well-being and occupational outcomes of lower-paid NHS staff and her research interests include occupational mental health and healthcare inequalities.

Bruce served nearly 27 years as a soldier and officer in the British Army, before becoming a leadership lecturer in Further Education for 2 years. Bruce is currently a Level 7 Senior Leader Development Coach and completing a Professional Doctorate in Education with the University of Portsmouth. He is a Chartered Companion of CMI, Fellow of the Institute of Leadership, Fellow of IoSCM, FIEDP, and Chartered MCIPD. His research interests are in how the military and Veterans can contribute to education post-service. Bruce has a provisional agreement for this research to help evidence towards the Office for Veterans' Affairs employment policies and the Education and Training Foundations future strategies.