EMBRACING CHALLENGES
SCDTP FINAL YEAR CONFERENCE 2025

EVOLVE
ADAPT
INNOVATE
Organising Committee

Michelize van Heerden
University of Chichester
I am a PhD student at Chichester University, researching the Longitudinal Impact of the Women’s Sport Leadership Academy (WSLA). My academic journey includes a Master’s in Sport Business and Leadership, where I focused on women’s career trajectories in leadership within motorsport, and a Bachelor’s in International Sport Management and Business. Beyond academia, I have extensive experience in event management, having worked on major projects like the EURO 2024, production for London Lions Basketball, and campaigns for PUMA. Most recently, a campaign I was involved in won an award at the Football Content Awards 2024, showcasing my passion for impactful and innovative work in the sports industry.

Cheryl Williams
University of Portsmouth
As a first-year PhD student, I am researching a virtual reality intervention for chronic pain management. I earned a BSc in Psychology from the University of Portsmouth in 2004 and subsequently worked as a data analyst for a national energy company. My passion for fitness led me to retrain as a coach in strength and conditioning, biomechanics, and yoga, helping individuals manage pain. I completed a MResSc in Physical Activity, Health & Rehabilitation (2022) at UoP, exploring the impact of mood on running biomechanical asymmetry, and an MSc in Social Research Methods (2024) from the University of Southampton. I aim to promote health and wellbeing through my research.

Rachel Thomson
University of Portsmouth
I am a first-year PhD student investigating how differences in African elephant cognition and personality influence crop-raiding behaviour in Botswana. I hold a BSc in Biology from the University of Manchester, a MRes in Neuroscience from Newcastle University, and a MSc in Social Research Methods from the University of Southampton. In between my degrees I have worked on blue whale migration in Spain, baboon cognition in Namibia, Asian elephant spatial-use in Thailand and howler monkey personality in Paraguay! My PhD fieldwork will entail interviewing farmers, observing elephants with novel objects, and cognitive testing of crop-raiding individuals using puzzle boxes! I aim to develop strategies to mitigate human-elephant conflict.

Tora Giacomelli
University of Portsmouth
I am a first-year PhD student researching health literacy in young children. I have a background in Health Psychology, having previously worked as a Research Assistant for an EU-Funded project on sexual health in older adults, and as Evaluation Officer for the children’s health charity Anna Freud.
My PhD will focus on understanding how and why health literacy develops in the critical early childhood period, as well as understanding key influences such as parents, teachers and peers. The outcomes will include an increased understanding, conceptualisation and operationalisation of health literacy in early childhood.

Clare Phillips
University of Southampton
I completed a BSc in Biology at the University of Southampton in 2005 (!) and subsequently moved to London where I trained to be a nurse at King’s College. In 2016, I returned to studying and completed an MSc in Global Health at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. This got me really interested in research and the enormous scope it has to influence change. I continue to work clinically, as an alcohol nurse specialist, alongside my PhD (part-time). My research aims to explore the experiences of Polish migrants to the UK accessing care and support for alcohol use disorder and alcohol-related liver disease.

Alice Bell
University of Southampton
I am a first-year PhD student in Economics. I am studying cooperation around common pool resources with tipping points. I previously completed a BSc and an MRes in Economics at the University of Southampton. I hope to use experiments to examine the underlying mechanisms for coordination around common pool resources with tipping points. I am particularly interested in their application to climate change and cooperation around avoiding uncertain and risky tipping points that will cause irreversible damage to our environment.