About me

At work I'm a PhD candidate in theoretical astrophysics at Cardiff University. As an undergraduate I studied general physics with a minor in mathematics and I think — hope — that this background in the sciences informs the political work I do.

I've always been on the left ideologically, self-identifying as a lowercase-s socialist, ever since I was quite young (I read the Communist Manifesto when I was ten), but I only radicalized around early 2009. I did so out of exasperation: I was an Obama voter, I sensed the mood in the US was not just for "change" but for dramatic reform of the American economy toward something more structurally fair, and I was hugely disappointed that Obama, like every other government in the developed world, whether they called themselves Democrat or Labour or Socialist or Christian Democratic or whatever, did the exact same thing: give huge amounts of money to the banking sector but do nothing to bring those industries under the control of the public. At this point, I finally became convinced that only revolutionary change, rather than reform, could fix the deep problems of society.

I joined the Socialist Party on May 1st, 2009. I chose the SP out of apprecation for its complete picture of activism: not merely handing out leaflets and going on demonstrations but taking part in campaigns top to bottom, bringing together the trade union movement with a broader layer of activists from colleges, universities and the general public. I sit on the party's Wales Committee and the executive of the Cardiff-East branch.

I'm currently the Mature Students Officer at Cardiff University Students' Union until August 2010. I'm also active in my branch of the University and College Union and attended UCU Congress 2010 as a delegate from Cardiff University.

I was born in France to American parents and moved to Wales in September 2005 after living in Washington, DC from 1997. I currently live in Cathays, Cardiff.