Dr Camilla Elphick

Professional biography

I work with Graham Pike, Zoe Walkington and Lara Frumkin for a citizen forensics project. This aims to improve communications between citizens and institutions (e.g. police). In this capacity, I conducted research to inform the creation of future digital policing that serves citizens appropriately, while also conforming to police values. I was also involved in the conception and development of an online Gratitude Tree, which was inspired by the NHS “Clap for Carers”. It aims to create a positive online space where people can share feelings and expressions of gratitude and support.

I am also interested finding ways to minimise issues with eyewitness memory and identification accuracy.

I have also conducted research into workplace harassment and was recently employed as a researcher for an AI reporting tool called Spot, which is freely available for people to report workplace harassment and discrimination. More recently, I was employed as an academic advisor for the BBC Sounds podcast Bad People, focusing mainly on witnesses to sexual harassment.

My research interests thus lie mainly in the application of psychology to make positive changes to 'real world' issues.

If you are interested in taking part in our most recent environment research, please click here.

If you are interested in taking part in our most recent eyewitness research, please click here.

Academic submissions under review:

Elphick, C.; Stuart, A.; Philpot, R.; Walkington, Z.; Frumkin, L.; Zhang, M.; Levine, M.; Price, B.; Pike, G.; Nuseibeh, B.; Bandara, A. Altruism and anxiety: Engagement with online community support initiatives (OCSIs) during Covid-19 lockdown in the UK and Ireland​. In preprint  here.

Elphick C., Minhas, R., Shaw J. Everybody knows: The importance of speaking up about witnessed workplace harassment and discrimination. In preprint  here.

Witnessing workplace harassment and discrimination: Overcoming the ‘social contagion’ of toxic work culture

I am a Lecturer in Psychology at the Open University, where I work closely with Gemma Briggs, Ailsa Strathie, Jim Turner, Lee Curley, and Hayley Ness. 

Since working at the Open University, I have been involved in:

• presentation of the undergraduate module DE100: Investigating Psychology
• production of the module DD210: Living psychology: from the everyday to the extraordinary
• presentation of the MSc module DD802: Investigating Forensic Psychology

I have also been an Associate Lecturer for the module DE100: Investigating psychology

I have been a Guest Lecturer at the University of West London for two Interactive Memory Workshops.

I have also been invited as Guest Lecturer at the University of Sussex for lectures on Problems with Eyewitness Testimony and Face Composite Systems

I made a written submission to the Women and Equalities Committee Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in the Workplace (2018).

I was also involved in work by Graham Hole and Gemma Briggs, which addresses the dangers of driving while talking on hands-free mobile phones (2018). 

Policy Brief: Think talking on your hands-free while driving is safe? Think again.

Policy Document: Tackling the dangers of using hands-free mobiles while driving.

I was employed as an academic advisor for the Bad People podcast, available on BBC Sounds. In this capacity, I was interviewed for an episode on witnessing sexual harassment Hollywood Predator: Would you keep an open secret?​ and wrote a supporting article Weinstein: Why so many witnesses of sexual harassment stay silent.

I am also involved in a project exploring the psychological aspects of Wiedemann Steiner Syndrome (WSS). This was genetically idenitified in 2012, so there has been no published psychological research to date. For this research, I co-supervise a research student with Nicola Yuill from the University of Sussex. Other collaborators are Wendy Jones from Great Ormond Street Hospital and Jane Waite from Aston University.