Nick is currently a Research Associate with the UK National Research Centre on Privacy, Harm Reduction, and Adversarial Influence Online (REPHRAIN) at the University of Bristol.

He is studying the dynamics of financially motivated online sextortion. The aim of this research project is to propose a range of disruption opportunities to reduce the prevalence and impact of sextortion. Nick’s research interests focus on studying the realities experienced by vulnerable or marginalised people in societies around the world. He is an experienced interdisciplinary social scientist with recent projects focused on influencing policy in the following areas:

• Social justice: addressing mass incarceration in the USA by studying due process violations arising from prosecutorial misconduct against indigent defendants, including those facing the death penalty.
• Public health: increasing the number of people who know they have inherited cancer syndromes by studying the communications strategies of carriers when informing their family members about testing opportunities.
• Cybersecurity: studying online sextortion with the aim of curtailing its proliferation and mitigating the impacts of its occurrence.
• Urban environment: encouraging a broader range of construction clients to engage in policy discussions informing construction improvement reform agendas and briefing practices.