Staff Profile - Zephyrine Barbarachild
Research Associate
Zephyrine Barbarachild
Degree
BA (Hons), Spanish and German, Swansea, 1976
MA Women’s Studies, Lancaster, 2004
MA English Literary Research and Creative Writing (Distinction), Lancaster, 2006
Research Interests
Zephyrine came to the Institute for Health Research in 2005 on a research project into the legacies of the Community Development Project in West Cumbria in the early 1970s. Her recent work is collecting stories and experiences from the End-of-Life Storytelling Project for Bridges Support Service, Birmingham.
Career details
Zephyrine practised as a medical herbalist and macrobiotic nutritional advisor in the 1980s. She retrained in horticulture in 1987 and was a founder member of a community-based business training learning-disabled young adults in horticulture and management skills. She has run her own garden design and maintenance business since 1991. She is also an academic proof-reader.
Other Interests
Her other current research interests chiefly stem from her work as an Independent Prison Monitor and include juvenile deaths in custody, diversity issues in youth custody, learning disabilities and mental health in custodial settings. She is also writing about mermaids as liminal beings.
Projects
