Profile
Dr Jenny Barke
Research & Impact Fellow
My research focuses on the ethics and methods of co-producing research across disciplines, sectors and with communities using participatory and creative research methods. I am particularly interested in the facilitation of co-produced/collaborative/participatory research activity and how groups can be supported to work togther to create impactful, rigorous and meaningful research.
I am a psychologist, and have worked across health, social sciences, arts, and humanities. I have expertise in a range of qualitative research methods. Much of my research has drawn on creative, arts-based methods and has involved collaborating with arts practitioners, community organisations, and charities.
Research interests
My research interests include:
- Participatory and collaborative or co-produced research methods
- The ethics of participatory research
- Peer research/community research and relational expertise
- Participatory research methods training
- Arts based and creative methods
- Research impact
- Researcher wellbeing
- Loneliness and positive ageing
Research supervision
I am interested in working with doctoral students in areas across my research interests, including:
- Participatory research methods
- Community engaged research
- The ethics of arts-based and community research methods
Biography
I am a psychologist by background and began my research career working in the field of visible difference and genetics. Through this work I became interested in arts based research methods and co-producing research with people with lived experience.
I have worked in both the third sector and Universities exploring a range of research topics, primarily with community organisations and community based researchers.
Before joining the University of Exeter in 2024 I was the Head of Participatory research at The Young Foundation, responsible for designing and delivering participatory research and peer research training with a range of partners including universities, the NHS, charities and local government. Research topics included Youth Violence, Health Equity, Eco-Anxiety, Social Infrastructure, access to healthly food and employment practices.
Prior to working at the Young Foundation I worked on a series of co-produced research projects at the University of Bristol including working with community researchers, academics, community organisations and artists to explore the history of the Single Parent Action Network www.thespanproject.org.uk/ and collaborating with a community research collective of older people to research loneliness, develop interventions and share findings through creative writing and monologues productivemargins.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/projects/isolation-and-loneliness/
I also worked for the University of the West of England with community evaluators on the Bristol Ageing Better research and evaluation Age UK Bristol | Bristol Ageing Better