Sophia Thomas joins as our new Schools and Colleges Champion!

Written by Sophia Thomas, Psychology Schools and Colleges Champion.

I joined Staffordshire University in July 2020 as the psychology departments Schools and Colleges Champion.

I graduated from Staffordshire University with BSc (hons) Psychology and Criminology in 2016 and from the University of Gloucestershire MSc Forensic Psychology in 2018. I am now studying at Hartpury University for my MRes Anthrozoology (which is the study of human-animal interactions), and I am about to start my dissertation, looking at the therapeutic effects of interacting with animals in young people/adults.

I worked as a community youth worker between 2016 and 2019 with children aged 5 – 16, supporting on the outdoor education program and running the community groups, small target groups and holiday clubs. Between 2017 – 2018 I also worked as a Family Support Worker at HMP Leyhill and have been working as a community carer and school cover supervisor from November 2019 until joining Staffordshire University.

I am very excited to start visiting schools and colleges to run sessions on psychology at Staffs!

Fun facts about me:

  1. I have a house rabbit called Tonic, soon to be joined by a Tortoise (yet to be named!).
  2. I have spent several nights with a baby baboon sleeping in my bed when I was volunteering in Namibia at an animal sanctuary (so I now have the very useless knowledge of how to put a nappy on a baboon to make it less messy having one for a sleepover!).
  3. I was an extra in the film The Libertine with Johnny Depp and Johnny Vegas when I was 10. They were filming a scene in a village near where I grew up and we ended up nearby on the day of filming so myself and my brother got to be extras.

Are you a school or college and would like to arrange a talk, workshop, visit? Please get in touch: psyschoolevents@staffs.ac.uk


Exterior Science Centre

The Department of Psychology at Staffordshire University offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Psychology at the University’s £30 million Science Centre in Stoke-on-Trent. The department is home to the Staffordshire Centre for Psychological Research, a large and active group of psychologists, PhD students and researchers conducting work into a variety of psychological disciplines and topic areas.

Interested in a Psychology degree? Come to an Open Day – for further details and to book your place at an open day please click here.