RE:PLAY Fellows

Prashant Agrawal
Dr Prashant Agrawal is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics at Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and the Programme Leader of the BEng/MEng (Hons) Electrical and Electronic Engineering Programme. His research covers the theme of nature-inspired systems for mass and energy transport application blending principles from material science, engineering, and physics. As an educator, he is focused on embedding employability through programme level interventions and problem-based learning.

Carly Foster
Carly is currently Head of Educational Partnerships with oversight of Experiential Learning at Northumbria’s innovative London Campus and leadership of the International Pathway College and Distance Learning Portfolio. Her research interests include the application of data and analytics methods in higher education with a focus on improving student outcomes.

Kate Harland
Kate is an Assistant Professor in Marketing at Northumbria University with a research focus on hospitality technology innovation, guest-host relationships, and customer experience. With 14 years of industry experience and PhD research in hospitality, she bridges academia and industry through innovative teaching approaches. Kate’s profile.

John Rooksby
John Rooksby is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at Northumbria University. His teaching mainly focuses on software development. He holds a PhD from Manchester University and has held research positions at Glasgow and St Andrews. His research focuses on Human Computer interaction and Digital Health.

Dom Simpson
Dominic Simpson is a Nursing academic and Play Fellow exploring joyful approaches to health and care education. Guided by the mantra “What would this look like if it was fun?”, he champions playful pedagogy to enhance deep learning, wellbeing, and creativity in clinical practice and academic environments.

Kelly Stockdale
Dr Kelly J. Stockdale is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Senior Fellow of the HEA. Her main research relates to criminal justice, restorative justice, and peoples’ lived experiences when in contact with criminal justice agencies. She also researches the criminology curriculum – focusing on whose voices are marginalised and whose are prioritised in criminology, why it matters, and what we can do about it.

Leonardo Garcia-Garcia
Leonardo is an Assistant professor in Engineering at the University of Sussex. His research is focused on the use of emergent technologies such as 3D modelling, simulation, 3D printing, and smart textiles for Rehabilitation and Human Motion Monitoring. Leonardo interested on how Technology and Play-Based Learning can be used effectively to improve the learning process by incorporating new experiences to enhance the meaningful learning.

Alex Stuart-Kelly
Alex is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience on the Education and Scholarship track at the University of Sussex, with a keen interest in what makes students engage (or perhaps not!) in university teaching practices. He is a particular believer in active learning approaches and have a real investment in science outreach, especially physiology, to wider audiences.

James Van Yperen
James is an assistant professor in the mathematics department at the University of Sussex. He did his training in numerical analysis and then was drafted into the COVID-19 response team at the university to forecast for NHS Sussex and the Local Authorities. He now researches mainly into parameter estimation techniques, but his side project is digital technologies and active learning. He specialises in building interactive dashboard for learning, and wants to help encourage mathematicians to engage with new learning approaches, in particular enabling smooth transitions for students from pre-university to university learning. He has lived quite a varied life and will happily chat (often nonsense) into the early hours of the morning about almost anything (which makes him very easy to distract). James is absolutely terrified of eels.

Yusra Abdelatif
Dr Yusra Abdelatif is a Senior Lecturer in Nursing & Health Sciences based in Peterborough. Her teaching focuses on professional development and student support. She is passionate about innovative and inclusive pedagogies and is committed to enhancing student engagement and professional development through playful and evidence-informed approaches.

Roberta Blake
Roberta Blake is a veterinary surgeon, researcher and Professor of Animal Performance Science in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Anglia Ruskin University. Her teaching and research explores animal health, particularly how intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence animal movement and the risk of injury, with particular emphasis on animal biomechanics, equitation science, sports medicine, and regenerative therapies for musculoskeletal injuries

Cheryl Greyson
Dr Cheryl Greyson is a Senior Lecturer and Faculty Lead of business and law at ARU Peterborough. She is a Senior Fellow (HEA), Certified Management Business Educator (CMBE) and Trained Facilitator of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® method and materials specialising in using simulations, live briefs, and playful techniques in marketing education.

Carrie Ho
Dr Carrie Ho is a dramatist, therapist, and educational researcher specialising in transdisciplinary arts-based methods. A Senior Lecturer at ARU and RE:PLAY Fellow, she pioneered Children’s Participatory Research Theatre and leads research on aesthetics, child trauma, neurodivergence, and generative AI in-and-for education across the UK, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Japan, and Taiwan.

Jane Scott
Jane is a clinical psychologist and Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at ARU.  She has extensive experience in the UK and internationally, training students in clinical skills including psychological assessment, diagnosis and formulation, and psychological therapies.  

Nicola Walters
I am a Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University and a registered nurse. My research explores strategies for teaching written reflection. I’m passionate about learning theory, reflective practice, and inclusive pedagogy, with a focus on developing accessible, engaging teaching approaches to meet the diverse needs of learners in higher education.

Johanna Dennis
Johanna was a freelance illustrator in publishing, editorial, packaging & advertising, then flash animator / interactive designer before her current role in Camberwell. Illustration, animation & interactivity (including Extended Reality / 3D Modelling) continue in her teaching / creative practice. Research interests: Site-specific narratives. The social and environmental impact of storytelling & interactive experiences.

Thom Kaczmarek
Thom is an award-winning game developer & senior lecturer at the University of the Arts London. He is GIC.GD/ZTG Founder, Regional Organiser for Global Game Jam (UK & Ireland), and has been making games since the late 1990s. He has a constructionist and playful approach to teaching and learning.

George Mellor
George Mellor is a Senior Lecturer in Illustration on BA (Hons) Illustration at Camberwell College of Arts. Her teaching research seeks to understand the concept of ‘wandering’ as a form of creative practice and the role this has in nurturing student identity, knowledge and belonging. In her illustration practice she works with drawing, animation, and game design, exploring ideas informed by nature, folklore, technology and culture.

Evan Raskob
In addition to developing and leading the BSc Computer Science course at UAL’s Creative Computing Institute (CCI), Evan Raskob creates computational art using data and interactive programming for 3D printers; develops live architectures for interactively programming 3D printers and creating generative art; consults with small and large businesses for software development, especially on the web; creates science fiction/speculative design card games (Peek), composes and performs live music, sculpture and visuals, often with code, and organises livecoding events in London.

Jacky Chan
Jacky is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, mainly teaching research methods and statistics, which can be intimidating for many. Through this project, they hope to experiment how playful learning can make teaching more engaging and interesting.

Pippa Coffer
Pippa is Associate Professor and Director of Teaching in Chemistry at Durham University. She chairs the Enhancing Pedagogy in Chemistry (EPiC) scholarship group, with research interests in inclusive laboratory teaching, skills development and digital learning. Passionate about pedagogy, she is bringing playful learning into laboratory modules because chemistry should sparkle, not just fizz!

Gary Dewey
Gary joined Durham Business School as an Associate Professor in Accounting in 2019, and prior to joining Gary was a Senior Lecturer in Accounting and Finance at the University of Liverpool. Gary has over 20 years’ experience working within industry for UK and global organisations and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (FCMA). Gary teaches a range of accounting and business subjects, including Management Accounting, Business Strategy and Corporate Governance.

Campisi Salvatore
Salvatore Campisi has taught Italian at various UK universities since 2005 (Salford, Manchester, Leeds). He was awarded a PhD with a thesis on Hermann Hesse in 2011 and is currently Assistant Professor in Italian Studies at Durham University. His scholarly interests include independent learning, artificial and human memory in language acquisition, music and language, as well as identity in a transnational perspective.

Simon Ward
Simon Ward teaches and researches in Visual Arts and Film and German at Durham University. His teaching portfolio focuses mainly on documentary film-making and creative engagements with all forms of visual art.  His research focuses on the intersections of  visual culture with memory in Berlin, and petrocultures. He is at present  the Departmental Director of Education.

Michael Asinyaka
Michael Asinyaka is Lecturer and Course Director for Construction Project Management and Construction Apprenticeships at Coventry University. With international teaching and consultancy experience, his interests span project management, sustainable construction, and energy retrofits. He enjoys developing student-centred, engaging approaches to teaching and is keen to explore playful learning.

Annesha Makhal
Dr Annesha Makhal joined Coventry University in 2020 as Lecturer in Marketing and Advertising in the School of Management, College of Business and Law. Annesha completed her PhD in Marketing from the University of Otago, New Zealand. Her doctoral research focussed on the socialisation of food appearance preferences and its relation to food rejection and waste. Annesha’s research work received national media coverage on multiple New Zealand media outlets. She has taken that work forward to creating the Edibility project, multi-pronged research to understanding why people waste food. At Coventry University, Annesha leads modules on sustainability marketing, brand management, and research methods across all levels. In 2022, Annesha became the ASPiRE Fellow at the Centre for Business in Society Research Centre (CBiS) (now called the Centre for Resilient Business and Society). She co-organises the Future of Food Symposium annually with food sustainability researchers. She is currently the Course Director for all undergraduate marketing programs at the School of Management.

Neil O’Shea
After +20 years working in the wild world of manufacturing, Neil spent the last 3 in the new exciting environment of university education. He is a family man, a keen reader and learner, and has many interests he won’t bore you with here. His dog is called Bramble, and she’s a good girl.

Tara Rutledge
Tara Rutledge is a Lecturer in Film and Media Production and a multidisciplinary visual artist. Her creative practice is informed by a broad range of artistic influences and diverse media. Based in the West Midlands, Tara’s work is driven by a passion for learning, collaboration, and the sharing of creative knowledge.

Ali Shafiq
Ali Shafiq is lecturer in advertising and marketing at Coventry University. He has been in the higher education sector since 2008, has taught in 3 different countries and across 2 continents. His research interest includes religion-based consumption behaviour and ethical practices in marketing.

Arnaldo delli Carri
Dr Arnaldo delli Carri is Associate Professor in Stress and Dynamics and Curriculum Lead for Mechanical and Design Engineering at Coventry University. A Chartered Engineer and Senior Fellow of the HEA, his teaching centres on interactive, playful approaches to engineering education, including his internationally adopted “Explorable Explanations” platform for visualising complex concepts.

Fiona Lomas
Fiona Lomas FCIM FHEA is a Lecturer in Marketing at Coventry University with extensive international industry experience in strategic brand leadership. Her consultancy employs playful, narrative-driven approaches to enhance engagement. She is interested in researching how such approaches can be adapted to support pedagogical innovation and skill development in higher education.

Loretta Lou
Loretta Lou (DPhil, Oxon) is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Durham University. Her research explores the green movement and regenerative practices aimed at healing both people and the Earth. At Durham, she teaches modules on the Anthropocene, Critical Global Health, Planetary Health, and Social Movements. In 2024, she was a finalist for “Outstanding Contribution to Teaching”and“Inspirational Educator.”

Mark Fisher
Mark is an Associate Professor in Accounting, working within the Accounting and Finance Department here at the University of Sussex Business School. Mark’s profile.