Karen is a researcher and independent evaluator. She has a particular interest in how we gather, analyse, communicate and use the evidence around health and wellbeing benefits that might result from arts, culture and leisure participation. She currently holds research posts at the University of Leeds, exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on the cultural sector, and at the University of Bristol, where she is working on the Connecting through Culture as We Age project. Her recent doctoral research focused on the challenges of evaluating arts-based activities for people with dementia.