Dr Sarah-Louise Weller

Qualifications:

PhD, MSc, PGCTLHE, SFHEA, Academic Member CIPD

Position:

Director of Research & Enterprise, Bristol Business School

Department:

College of Business and Law

Telephone:

+441173284295

Email:

Sarah3.Weller@uwe.ac.uk

Social media:

About me

I am Director of Research and Enterprise in Bristol Business School, where I provide strategic leadership in research policy, culture, and development. I work closely with research leaders across the University and with external partners to advance impactful, collaborative research that addresses pressing societal challenges.

My research focuses on volunteers, the performativity of gender, and women's experiences in male-dominated organisations, addressing significant societal challenges and delivering impact for local communities, the third sector, government, and international humanitarian agencies. I have extensive fieldwork experience, including eight years embedded within an international search and rescue team, delivering disaster resilience training in South East Asia and responding to the 2023 Türkiye earthquake. My research has been recognised internationally, including citation in the United Nations’ 2026 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report.

A central strand of my work examines gendered experiences in extreme contexts. My current project, ‘Intersecting Vulnerabilities: The Impact of Extreme Events on Women’ (with Christel Querton, Bristol Law School), explores how gender norms, social status, and displacement influence women’s recovery from crises. Through knowledge exchange with humanitarian and third sector partners, the project is generating practical insights to support more inclusive and effective responses, with direct relevance for international aid policy and practice.

I have a strong commitment to collaborative and applied research. Recent projects include HEIF-funded work with a local science and education charity to reimagine approaches to volunteering, focusing on attraction, development and retention of diverse talent, with PhD researcher Winifred Onyemachi. I have also partnered with the Antarctic Fire Angels on an outreach and engagement initiative that reached over 2,000 school pupils and explored barriers to women entering traditionally male-dominated careers.

Alongside my research, I contribute to professional development and knowledge exchange. This includes delivering an inclusive leadership workshop for the Ministry of Defence (DE&S), as well as specialist training for doctoral and early career researchers, supported by funding from the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS).

I teach across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in human resource management and supervise doctoral research.

Prior to joining UWE, I had a 25-year career in industry, working in learning and development as a Regional Trainer at HBOS plc, with the Royal Navy at the University of Bristol, and as a Manager in a Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit at North Bristol NHS Trust.

Outside of work, I remain an active international search and rescue volunteer.

Please email me to arrange a date and time to meet.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sarah-louise-weller/

Publications

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