Our team of international and interdisciplinary researchers.
All researchers affiliated with the bisexual research group contribute to the exchange of ideas and research on bi+ experiences. We are an independent group, and do not receive regular support from any funding or private body.
In March 2021 we were awarded an Independent Social Research Foundation grant for our project “Bisexuality Today: Understanding Attitudes, Protective Factors, and Risk Factors for an Often Invisible Sexual Minority”.
We encourage you to follow each of our affiliated researchers and share their work widely! You can also follow the bisexual research group on Twitter - @bisexualscience - and Instagram - @bisexualresearch.
Lauren B. Beach, JD/PhD
Northwestern University, and Northwestern Institute
Lauren Beach is a Sexual and gender minority (SGM) health researcher who investigates the epidemiology of chronic physical health conditions over the life course among diverse SGM populations and people living with HIV (PLWH). She also studies how multilevel health and identity related stigmas affect healthcare quality, chronic condition management, and health outcomes of marginalized populations.
Dr Helen Bowes-Catton
The Open University
Helen Bowes-Catton is a critical social psychologist whose research focuses on the relationship between sexualities, subjectivities and space. She is currently publishing outputs from her PhD on bisexual spaces, and has written extensively about bisexuality. She was also until recently the head of BiUK, a bisexual research group.
Sakura Byrne
The Open University.
Sakura Byrne is a PhD candidate, looking specifically at monogamy and bisexual identity, and the impact on mental wellbeing. Her research focuses on monogamous bisexuals of all genders, with a view to providing better understanding for mental health professionals working with this group, as well as aiding the bisexual community and monogamous bisexuals themselves.
Elizabeth Deehan, MSc
University of Lincoln
Elizabeth Deehan is completing a PhD examining an under researched paraphilia (somnophilia), which will provide a wider knowledge base for academics and practitioners. She has an interest in the unknown elements of sexuality, both preference and paraphilia.
Julien Grub, M.A.
As a historian, Julien has investigated perspectives on masturbation in 1970s West Germany, teenage sexuality in the GDR film "Sieben Sommersprossen", and about trans porn in Germany. He is interested in the history of bisexuality in the second half of the 20th and 21st century Germany, public discussion and representation in the media, and bisexuality in sex education.
Dr Duc Dau
The University of Western Australia
Dr Duc Dau is an Honorary Research Fellow in Humanities at The University of Western Australia. She has published widely on issues and representations of sexual and gender diversity from the nineteenth century onwards. Dr Dau is coordinator of two bisexual groups, Bi+ Community Perth and UWA BTW (Bi the Way).
Noemi Dreksler
University of Oxford
Noemi Dreksler is a University of Oxford DPhil researcher and works in business psychology. Her research includes: multisensory perception, leadership, and individual differences. She specialises in literature reviews, is passionate about social justice and diversity, and is interested in researching bisexuality and the health benefits of nature.
Jacob Engelberg
King’s College London
Jacob is a doctoral candidate in Film Studies at King's College London. His current research makes a bisexual theoretical intervention in queer approaches to film by considering the constructions and functions of cinematic figurations of transgressive bisexuality. Jacob has published work in the Journal of Bisexuality and Porn Studies.
Misty Farquhar
Curtin University Centre for Human Rights Education
Misty Farquhar is a PhD Researcher at the, where they also teach. Misty’s research explores how people living outside binary ideas of sexuality / gender experience recognition in Australia. As well as facilitating LGBTIQ+ inclusion training and other projects to support the community, they are the founder of Bisexual+ Community Perth.
Sam Lawton
School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Glasgow
Sam Lawton’s work focuses on sexual identity, discrimination, and technology. He is interested in how people come to their sexual identities, how they maintain and negotiate these over time. He is also interested in what drives prejudice against sexual minority folk, including geographic differences, and how people use internet technology to explore their sexualities.
Harriet McInerney
Affiliation: University of Birmingham
Harriet is a PhD candidate in the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, where she is examining the sexual and religious identities of bisexual+ Church of England Christians. Alongside her interests in sexuality, identity and faith, she is also interested in sexual equality in defence and the development of LGBT+ education in primary and secondary schools in the UK.
Mx. Rosie Nelson
University of Bristol
Rosie Nelson’s Sociology PhD focused on the way in which bi+ people construct their sexual identity and gender identity, and the impact of their gender/sex ID on their romantic relationships, using queer theory and queer methodologies. Their research has primarily focused on bisexuality, distinct from other LGT identities, working to reframe the way bisexuality is understoody in sexualities scholarship.
Tara Pond
AUT University
Tara Pond is a PhD Candidate, using mixed-method approaches, a critical feminist and intersectional lens to examine the intersections of gender and sexuality for plurisexual-identified women. This includes an examination of marginalisation, sexualisation, relationships and identity constructions.
Taralyn Parr
University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Taralyn Parr is a Ph.D. student, using queer theory and anti-narrative methodology, to explore how bisexual+ leaders in Canada navigate the tension between leadership necessitating a ‘desexualized’ performance and their hyper-sexualized bi+ identity.
Dr Julia Shaw
University College London and Goldsmiths University London
Dr Julia Shaw is the founder of the Bisexual Research Group. She is a psychological scientist and research associate at University College London, and she is currently doing a master’s in Queer History at Goldsmiths University. She is interested in perceptions of bisexuality, and ways to overcome biases and misconceptions related to the polysexual experience. Dr Shaw is currently writing a popular science book on bisexuality.
Ursula Oliver
Arden University
Ursula Oliver is studying towards her master's in psychology at Arden University, with her final project exploring the experiences of LGBT+ students. She is interested in cognitive dissonance amongst bisexuals, the experience of bisexual students, the opinions of bisexual students on the topic of sex and relationship education in the UK, and perceptions of bisexuality within the LGBT+ community.
Derek Sollberger, MS
University of California at Merced
Derek Sollberger is a lecturer at University of California at Merced. He teaches a variety of data science courses and workshops. Course activities include survey design and analysis to examine topics such as campus climate, LGBT demographics, and public opinion of LGBT issues.
Dr Andrea Waling
ARCSHS, La Trobe University
Dr Andrea Waling’s research expertise falls into four distinct areas: Men, masculinity and sexuality; LGBTI+ health and wellbeing, sexuality and sexual practices, and qualitative research methods and methodology. Her work draws from a range of disciplines to help make sense of and understand the social world to which we live. These include fields of cultural and media studies, sociology, anthropology, Australian studies, history, criminology, health, gender and sexuality studies, and education.