Originally from Perth, Western Australia, I grew up in a household full of birds, fish, reptiles, two dogs, and my biologist parents. My first job was as a chorus singer with the West Australian Opera company, but I've always been fascinated by the social effects of music. This interest led me to complete a doctorate at the University of Oxford where I studied the cognitive processes underlying the synchrony-bonding effect. In my research, I like to combine multidisciplinary perspectives from psychology, biology and anthropology, to understand why people make music together.
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain (University of Jyväskylä, Finland) and also a research affiliate with the Social Body Lab at the Centre for the Study of Social Cohesion (University of Oxford, UK).
Experience
2023–present
Postdoctoral researcher, University of Jyväskylä
2023–present
Postdoctoral affiliate, University of Oxford
2020–2021
Visiting researcher, University of Western Australia
2016–2017
Research assistant, University of Vienna
Education
2023
University of Oxford, DPhil in Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology
2017
University of Jyväskylä, MA in Music, Mind and Technology
2014
University of Western Australia, BSc/BMus(Hons) in Psychology and Musicology
Publications
2024
Love songs and serenades: a theoretical review of music and romantic relationships, Frontiers in Psychology
2023
Turning heads on the dance floor: synchrony and social interaction using a silent disco paradigm, Music & Science
2023
The synchrony-prosociality link cannot be explained away as expectancy effect: response to Atwood et al. (2022), Open Mind
2021
Cochlear SGN neurons elevate pain thresholds in response to music, Scientific Reports
2021
A crowd-sourced database of coronamusic: documenting online making and sharing of music during the COVID-19 pandemic, Frontiers in Psychology
2019
Trait empathy associated with agreeableness and rhythmic entrainment in a spontaneous movement to music task: preliminary exploratory investigations, Musicae Scientiae
Professional Memberships
European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM)