Larissa’s PhD thesis explored the role, value, and culture of learning within Police Scotland, utilising a mixed-methods approach to identify perceptions and lived experiences of learning in the police organisation in Scotland. Her findings are currently influencing the development of Police Scotland’s people strategy and will inform future reform in the police learning landscape in Scotland and beyond.

Most recently, Larissa has worked as an Associate Lecturer at Edinburgh Napier University supporting the new BSc (Hons) Policing and Criminology programme. From 2019 to 2022, she was the Scottish Institute for Policing research (SIPR) postgraduate research coordinator, and still strongly supports the development of early career researchers.

Additionally, Larissa is the conference lead for the European Society of Criminology Policing Working Group actively supporting the development of policing research across Europe. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Larissa worked as a Special Constable with Police Scotland.

Larissa is working on the project Bradford mapping research: service provision for vulnerable groups in contact with the police. In this project, Larissa will be working closely with the Centre’s Born in Bradford partners, to map and understand the distribution of vulnerabilities and services across the city. Larissa will also be working on the project Co-designing community resilience to online child sexual victimisation.