Biography
RESEARCH
Louise is an interdisciplinary and engaged researcher who strives to conduct impactful research with outcomes and outputs that make a difference. Louise’s expertise and interests lie in arts and cultural tourism and festivals. Her research is underpinned by stakeholder, public, and community engagement. Her methodological approaches involve visual art practice, visual culture, and creative, visual and participatory methods. Louise is particularly interested in the critical potential of art and festivals to engage different groups of stakeholders within communities, and across the tourism and festivals sector.
Louise has published her research in high quality academic journal articles and book chapters. She has been invited to present keynote presentations at international conferences and industry events.
Louise is an experienced editor and reviewer. She is an Associate Editor of Event Management Journal and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Creative Research Methods. At present, Louise is Guest Editor for three themed Special Issues of academic journals, around themes that reflect her expertise.
EXTERNALLY FUNDED RESEARCH AND IMPACT
Recently, Louise was Principal Investigator of a Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) Small Research Grant funded project: ‘Staycations, localisation, community and place-making: Edinburgh as a destination in tourism recovery’ (2023-2024). This project involved collaborative and participatory research workshops with a series of key stakeholders of Edinburgh’s tourism and festival sectors. Outcomes from the project involved a contribution to heritage tourism policy in Edinburgh, invited keynote presentations and media coverage. A series of academic outputs, including quality journal articles, are currently under development from this project.
Louise was the Principal Investigator of the interdisciplinary UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded ‘Seven Kingdoms of Wester Hailes’ project, working with a series of community partners (2020-2022). She led this project to develop innovative interdisciplinary collaborations with communities to complement and develop placemaking activity in Wester Hailes, which falls within the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 1st decile, making it one of the most deprived areas of Scotland. Outcomes and outputs from this project included community artwork and artefacts that contributed to Wester Hailes’ Local Place Plan (LPP) to inform future Government legislation. The Scottish Government’s Planning Act (2019) encourages communities to produce LPPs, to increase public participation with local issues. Wester Hailes was an LPP pilot community. Louise continues to work with community partners in Wester Hailes.
Louise has previously been involved in further research projects as a Co-investigator and has managed a large-scale international project in her earlier role as the Research Assistant attached to the externally funded 'Generation Y in Asia' project (from 2011-2012).
INVITED VISITING RESEARCHER ROLES
Louise was invited to University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain, as a Visiting Associate Professor in March 2025. Previously, she was an invited Visiting Scholar to Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUAS) in 2018. Louise was a Visiting Researcher at Markedshøyskolen, Oslo School of Management, Norway in 2010.
UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP ROLES
Louise currently holds several strategic leadership roles in the university. She is Interim Head of the Tourism and Intercultural Business Communications Subject Group (T&IBC) (May 2024-present). In this role, Louise is responsible for strategic leadership of the T&IBC Subject Group in the Business School across the subject’s research, learning and teaching, enterprise, and professional practice activities.
Louise is Public Engagement with Research Lead for the Business School (2018-present). In this role, Louise mentors and supports academic colleagues in creatively engaging the public with their research. She also sits on the university’s Public Engagement Forum, which manages £70K of SFC KEIF (formerly UIF) funding. This is directed to university researchers working with public and community partners annually.
Louise is Lead of the Visual Methods and Ethnography (VM&E) Interdisciplinary Research Group (2021-present). She established this group with interdisciplinary internal and external academics who use visual methods and ethnography. In leading this group, Louise has curated and managed two seminar series and a symposium, both of which attracted international attention. She is also currently working with members of the VM&E group as Lead Guest Editor of an interdisciplinary academic journal Special Issue, themed on Visual Methods in/as Leisure.
As Tourism Research Centre (TRC) Deputy Lead (2022-present), Louise is responsible for leading REF2029 Impact Case studies development for the Tourism and Intercultural Business Communications Subject Group, UoA24. She has delivered research impact training and a series of workshops on public engagement and research impact for TRC members and the wider Business School.
RESEARCH SUPERVISIONS
Louise is an experienced Postgraduate Research Degree supervisor and examiner of PhD and DBA projects. She has supervised three PhD students and one DBA student to completion. She is currently supervising four PhD students. Louise has examined eight PhD students and has acted as Independent Panel and Non-examining Chair for eight further PhD students.
Louise was previously responsible for the coordination of MSc dissertations in the Tourism subject area (2014-2021), and she contributes regularly to PGT and PGR research methods and philosophy modules, with her own research and expertise in research philosophy and visual and creative research methods. On three occasions, Louise has supervised MSc dissertations that have received awards.
EXTERNAL LEADERSHIP ROLES AND CONTRIBUTION TO CIVIC SOCIETY
Louise is serving a second three-year term as an elected Non-executive Director and Member of the Board of Trustees for Edinburgh Printmakers, international centre for printmaking and the visual arts (2021-present). In this role, she supports and advises EP’s senior leadership team on the organisation’s artistic and business strategies.
Louise represents Edinburgh Napier University on the Advisory Board of the Creative Economies Hub at the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities (SGSAH) (2024-present), which aims to inspire doctoral researchers to be talented, caring, ethical and reflective professionals.
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE
In addition to her role as Public Engagement Lead for the Business School and a member of the University’s Public Engagement Forum, Louise is highly experienced in designing and delivering public engagement events and activities on a national and international basis. She has designed, produced, and delivered creative public engagement with research projects. For example, her outputs around the theme of festival cities have been curated and programmed in international festivals, including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Edinburgh International Science Festival, Soundwalk September International Festival, and Explorathon: European Researchers’ Festival.
Louise has also designed and developed Knowledge Exchange and CPD activities, including an externally funded Executive Programme she co-delivered in Singapore to members of the Tourism industry. The content of this was informed by her published research.
VISUAL ART PRACTICE
Louise is a practicing visual artist whose work is informed by the historical and contemporary context of fine art. Having studied visual art at Undergraduate (BA Hons), and art and design at Postgraduate (M Phil), level at the Glasgow School of Art, she continues to use her creative practice to inform her research, and her research interests complement her art practice. Recently, Louise has successfully had her research-informed artwork selected for, curated, and exhibited in international exhibitions, including the ‘Royal Scottish Academy's (RSA) 197th annual exhibition’ and ‘Then and Now: 100 years of Visual Arts Scotland’ exhibitions. Her artwork has been purchased by galleries, private collectors and has featured in visual art publications. Louise is an experienced curator of visual art exhibitions. In 2024, she devised and curated a group exhibition of contemporary women painters’ work as part of the programme for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
Louise led the MSc International Festival and Event Management programme from 2015 until 2021. She has developed two research-informed modules at PG level: Experience Design and Management for Tourism, Hospitality and Events and Contemporary Issues in Festivals and Events. Louise leads the PG Tourism, Society and Visual Culture module which is underpinned by her own research. She designed a research-informed Undergraduate module: Festival and Event Design and Delivery; and previously designed and developed the Event Management UG module. While Louise led these modules, they consistently performed to a very high level in terms of student satisfaction (90%-100%).
Louise designed and led the award-winning Event Management module at UG level and has supervised award winning UG and PG students in live projects working with external partners, including Historic Environment Scotland.
PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL ROLES
Before working in Higher Education, Louise’s background and higher education was in visual art, media, and festivals. She worked in marketing and communications management roles and was responsible for the design, management and marketing of arts, festivals, media, entertainment, and educational events, within organisational and festival contexts. Prior to undertaking her PhD, Louise was Head of Department for Marketing and Communications at the University of Strathclyde’s Students’ Association (2003-2007). In this strategic role, she developed the commercial and membership marketing strategies for the organisation and led on marketing research