We are absolutely thrilled to introduce you to the new Binks Hub advisory group. Bringing together a combination of artists and individuals from community, governmental and arts organisations, their combined expertise will play a pivotal role in guiding the future direction of our work.
Working together, we hope that the group will ensure we pursue new research and offer opportunities that extend beyond the walls of the university. Our first few meetings have already been invaluable in helping us think about the work of the hub.
Here’s a little about the members of the group:
Catherine Brown
Catherine Brown, formerly a communications professional and broadcaster, is currently a civil servant heading Ukraine strategy for the Scottish Government. She is deeply interested in advising on delivering positive results for targeted cohorts, aligning our work with policy goals, ensuring good governance, promoting evidence-informed decision-making, conducting impact assessments, and promoting equalities within our initiatives.
Nel Coleman
Nel Coleman serves in a multifaceted role at the University of Edinburgh Library, with a strong focus on developing new forms participatory research support and enhancement initiatives across the university. Project legacies, compensation, community relationship building, and training are central to their work, and they are enthusiastic about collaborating closely with the Binks Hub in these areas.
Chisomo Kalinga
Chisomo Kalinga is a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Edinburgh. Until now, she has found that participatory researchers and those employing artistic and creative practices in their research have been present but somewhat disconnected across the university. Her primary focus lies in exploring authorship, attribution, citation, and research ethics, especially how we can translate these into research and writing cultures within the academic sphere.
Marianna Hay
Marianna Hay wears several hats: she is the Founding Director of ‘Orchestras for All’, an award winning charity which breaks down barriers to give all young people the life-changing experience of making music together; she is the co-founder of Take Note, an initiative that seeks to introduce unlikely allies engaged in arts-based social impact projects and strengthen their work together through partnership methodologies; and she is a consultant for the Footwork Trust, a grant-giving organization dedicated to building community resilience through locally led, locally informed innovation.
Jean McEwan
Visual and participatory artist Jean McEwan works within community and research contexts. She is based in West Yorkshire but works on multiple projects with a wider geographical scope. She actively collaborates with researchers and participants at all stages of projects, fostering knowledge production through creative practices. She also provides training and mentoring to researchers in areas such as collage and zine making. Jean is particularly interested in exploring the distribution of power and decision-making in research teams, as well as authorship and intellectual property considerations arising from research.
Dorothy Miell
Dorothy Miell recently retired from her role as Head of College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Vice Principal at The University of Edinburgh. Her background is as an academic psychologist with a focus on collaborative working in the Arts, particularly in music making and the ways in which people collaborate artistically. She now serves as the Chair of the Board at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and is also a Board member for the planned new concert hall in Edinburgh, the Dunard Centre. Her interests and experiences span across the entire spectrum of the Binks Hub’s activities, and she serves as the Chair of the Advisory Group.
Catherine Maternowska
Catherine Maternowska has a background in international NGOs and the United Nations. Having returned to academia, she focuses on violence prevention for young people. Her approach is transdisciplinary, aiming to make macro-scale violence prevention interventions, such as those by the World Health Organization, more pragmatic and community-focused at micro scales. She brings a perspective to the advisory group that bridges the gap between global policies and community-level implementation.
Susan Morrison
Susan Morrison is a stand-up comedian with a background in communicating academic research to non-academic audiences through platforms like the Bright Club and Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas. Her work has given her insights into the challenges of dismantling silos and echo chambers within universities. She also writes and presents Scottish history programming on BBC Radio Scotland.
Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin
Catherine-Rose Stocks-Rankin specializes in evaluation, knowledge mobilization, and participatory approaches to research, design, and systems transition. Her work involves collaborating with individuals, practitioners, and organizations committed to driving meaningful social change. Over the last decade, Catherine-Rose has worked across various fields, including community development, social work, social care, public health, primary, and secondary care. Her methods bridge different kinds of knowledge, emphasizing the blending of lived experience, practice wisdom, policy insights, and formal research evidence.
We couldn’t be happier to have these incredible individuals join our advisory group. With their diverse expertise, we are confident that they will help shape the future of our research and community engagement efforts.
Together, we look forward to making a real impact beyond the university and into the broader community, arts, and academic spheres.
