Conference Committee

The conference committee shapes the conference programme, reviews proposals and plays an important part in making our annual conference a huge success. Committee activities include reviewing proposals, helping to spread the word about the conference and providing input to help us make the conference the best it can be and reflect our diverse LD community across the UK and beyond.

If you are interested in joing the conference committee, please email admin@aldinhe.ac.uk, an expression of interest (approx 100 words) on your suitability for the role and your reason why you’d like to be involved in this group.


Carina Buckley

ALDinHE Treasurer
JLDHE Editorial Board Member

Carina joined the Steering Group in 2012 and was Co-Chair 2015 – 2021. She came into learning development almost by accident after gaining a PhD in Archaeology in 2006, and is currently Instructional Design Manager at Solent University, responsible for leading on the development of the VLE as a student-centred learning space. Her research interests focus on collaboration and community in LD, and how these impact and are impacted by our professional identities, particularly in terms of emotion and imposter syndrome. She is an Advance HE Principal Fellow and a Certified Leading Practitioner in Learning Development.


Ian Johnson

Steering Group Member
Chair of the Research and Scholarship Group

Ian has been active in ALDinHE since 2015 and a member of the peer mentoring working group since Spring 2020. He set up ALDinHE’s research community of practice at the same time, as the first CoP under the peer mentoring group umbrella, and continues to run it. The CoP provides informal peer support, critical friendship etc for research-active learning developers, and has co-authored a journal article, book chapter and several conference presentations around collaboration between learning developers. Ian is in the late stages of a professional doctorate on the framing and value of Learning Development work and also has research interests in feedback on student work and the teaching of reflective writing practices.


Janet Ramdeo

Deputy Chair of the Conference Committee

Janet joined the Conference Committee in 2022. She is an experienced teacher educator with over 15 years of experience in a range of universities. She has predominantly worked in international teacher education and Initial Teacher Training (ITT), having led teacher development projects in China and Kazakhstan, as well as led employment-based ITT provision at two London universities. She recently joined the University of Surrey, taking up an academic developer role in inclusive education, specifically race equality. Her research interest is primarily in the intersectional experiences of racialised educators but she is also supporting projects at University of Surrey examining the awarding gaps.


Kevin Watson

Kevin Watson joined the Conference Committee in 2023. He has worked in a range of UK universities initially as a Lecturer in US History, but since 2010 as a Learning Developer. He is currently Head of the Centre for Academic Development at Oxford Brookes University. Kevin is interested in raising student expectations of what higher education can offer through reflective practice and by exploring strategies to make the hidden curriculum visible, with a particular emphasis on digital literacies.


Melanie Crisfield

Steering Group Member
Chair of the Conference Committee

Melanie joined the conference committee in 2017 and became the co-chair in 2019. She has over 12 years’ experience as a learning developer in both UK and American universities. She currently works as the Senior Graduate School Tutor (PGR Lead) at Brunel University London. Her areas of interest in learning development include: understand and developing critical thinking skills; researcher development; literature review writing; communities of practice; and building writer self-confidence and self-efficacy. She holds a CeLP from ALDinHE and an SFHEA from AdvanceHE.


Rebecca Wilson

Rebecca joined the Conference Committee in 2023. She has over 10 years’ experience in learning and skills development working across Scotland and East Africa. Since 2018 she has worked as a Student Developer at the award-winning learning and teaching team at the University of St Andrews. Her areas of interest and research include transitions to university, peer-support, critical thinking and interdisciplinary approaches.


Steve Rooney

Steve Rooney is a Learning Developer at Aston University. He works with students and staff across all programmes, but with a particular responsibility for supporting learning in Health and Life Sciences disciplines. He continues to enjoy a long-standing, active involvement with the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE).


Vlasios Sarantinos

Vlasios Sarantinos is an educator and academic, with a strong passion for supporting students’ learning and teaching to ensure that they realise their potential. He has been working for several years as Senior Lecturer in Bristol Business School at the University of the West of England, with expertise in People Management and International Education. He also has experience in numerous other HEIs and working across different countries. Alongside his teaching and scholarly activity, he is a member of several professional associations, maintaining currency in relation to real-life business practices and ensuring learners’ experience is equally rich from both an academic and industrial perspective.


Skip to content