A bit about my academic background

I completed my PhD at Leuphana University (Germany)in 2014 and have been working as a full-time academic ever since. I have been teaching at university-level since 2008. I received a Bachelor-equivalent degree from the International School of Management in Germany and a Masters from the University of Queensland, Australia.

Research: I am a qualitative researcher who enjoys interdisciplinary work. My main research focus is on disability, (social) entrepreneurship and inclusive organising. I investigate topics such as meaning(fulness), embodiment, stigma, calling and activism. My goal is to use my research to enhance the lives of disabled people and of other marginalized groups. This is what I am passionate about and why I am in academia.

Teaching: I teach social entrepreneurship and sustainability management as well as the disability-specific session in Diversity Management. I have guest lectured at various universities including Ivey Business School (Canada), Syracuse University (USA), and Turku University (Finland).

Volunteering: I volunteer for Guide Dogs for the Blind Association as a speaker, fundraiser and am involved in their campaign work. I further support the Royal National Institute for the Blind with their “Seeing differently” trainings. I am part of other disability empowerment groups as well as represent disabled staff within my university’s EDI committees and chair our Disability and Mental Health Staff Network..

A bit about my disability:

I have cone-rod-dystrophy (CRD), a genetic degenerative condition that primarily affects my central vision but has also moved into my peripheral vision. With time my eyesight has dropped from about 30% when I was a child to below 0.5% now. As a consequence, I am one of many registered blind people who have some residual vision.

The vision I have left is blurry and flickers all the time. I also constantly see blinking dots – huge numbers of them – which is very annoying. I also have photophobia which means that I am very light sensitive. This is why you will never see me without sunglasses on my head. I don’t use them all the time but they are there if I need them and they are there quickly. Otherwise, I can get very bad headaches or even migraines and a feeling as if someone is trying to push a knife into my eye(s).

I use a screen reader in-built into my computer and get around with my incredibly cute and clever guide dog Lassie. At work, I am fortunate to have an Access to Work Support Worker who helps out with various tasks that I cannot do or take me along time due to my blindness.