Research Community

Dr Lucy Robinson is an Economic and Social Research (ESRC) Postdoctoral Fellow at Cardiff University. Her one year fellowship aims to consolidate her recently completed ESRC-funded DPhil at the Department of Education, University of Oxford. Her doctoral research involved working creatively with groups of service children to explore how military life shapes their identity and school experiences. Lucy is the proud winner of the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community's 2025 Early Career Researcher Award. Outside of her research, Lucy is a Trustee of the Armed Forces Education Trust (AFET), a grant-giving charity which supports service children's education which has been compromised or put at risk as a result of parents’ past or current service in the British Armed Forces. 

Dr Keeling is Research Leader at RAND Europe, where her primary role is Research Manager of the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces Community. Prior to joining RAND, she worked in academia. Mary is a Chartered Psychologist who has worked in the field of military psychology since 2010, both in the UK and the US. Using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches, her research has aimed to understand the psychosocial impact of military service on military personnel, Veterans, and Service-connected families. To date, Mary's research has focused on four broad areas: military to civilian transition; romantic relationships and military families; mental health stigma and help-seeking; and the psychosocial impact of Service-connected physical injuries. 

Dr Moira Bailey is a part time Lecturer, freelance Consultant and Researcher at the Robert Gordon University. Her interest in Veteran research came about as a result of her being a member of the Veteran family - her late husband was a Royal Navy Veteran who had mental helath issues arising from his service. Her son also is a Navy Veteran. She was recently a member of the team which produced an independent report commissioned in 2022 by the Office of Veterans’ Affairs to explore the potential of improving female Veterans' access to support services. She is currently working on two projects for different Veteran charities to produce in depth evaluation reports. Moira is also interested in pursing further research in the female Veteran space as well as exploring the experiences of Veterans' carers. 

Dr Natalie Hammond is a sociologist and Senior Lecturer in Health and Social Care. Her research interests include the intersection between gender, health and violence; sexual and reproductive health; and climate change and health. She is currently co-investigator on the AFTER study which aims to understand the long-term psychosocial and sexual experiences of ex-service personnel and their partners affected by conflict-related genital injuries.

Dr Paul Watson is an Assistant Director of the Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research (Military connected Children and Young People) and Assistant Professor in Nursing (Children and Young People) & Specialist Community Public Health Nursing. Paul is an expert in narrative methodologies and has a growing portfolio of research on the emotional health and well-being of military connected children and young people and young carers, PTSD and social isolation and loneliness in the Veteran population, and military connected suicide.

Dr Rachael Gribble is a Lecturer in War & Psychiatry, King's College London. Using mixed methods approaches, her research focuses on how occupation impacts and influences the well-being of military families. She has conducted research on the health and well-being of military families, including mental health among military spouses/partners, experiences of weekending, intimate partner violence within the military community, Veteran family health and well-being, Veteran transition, Veteran mental health, and public attitudes to the military.