Staff profile

Natalie began working in the Policing Research Unit in 2015 after completing her Business and Management undergraduate degree at Durham University. She completed her Masters of Arts by Research in 2018 on the topic of fairness, identity, work engagement and proactive behaviour in the emergency services. 

Natalie has conducted over 50 collaborative research projects with local and international police forces on topics including leadership, motivation, wellbeing, workplace stressors and proactive behaviours.

In July 2019, she was awarded a Chief Constable's Certificate of Commendation for her contribution and commitment to ensuring "the views of policing personnel and the challenges they face are understood in such a way that it empowers strategic leaders to improve policing culture and the wellbeing of staff."

Over the past four years, Natalie has been involved in the National Policing Wellbeing Survey - in collaboration with the National Police Wellbeing Service - to assess the current state of wellbeing from the perspective of the policing workforce and to provide evidence and insight to guide future policy and practice on improving police wellbeing.

• Natalie's research interests include leadership, ambivalence, identity, workplace stressors and wellbeing.
• She has presented research at the Institute of Work Psychology International Conference 2018, European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology Congress 2019, and Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Leadership Symposium 2023.

Chapter in book

• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Organisational Factors Impacting Wellbeing in Policing
  
  Brown, N. (2026). The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Organisational Factors Impacting Wellbeing in Policing. In I. Hesketh (Ed.), Wellbeing in Policing. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003518860

Journal Article

• The effects of morning priming exercise on afternoon physical and cognitive performance in female field hockey players
  
  Knight, J., Russell, M., Cunningham, D., Brown, N., Cook, C., Waldron, M., Mason, L., & Kilduff, L. (2026). The effects of morning priming exercise on afternoon physical and cognitive performance in female field hockey players. PLOS One, 21(6), Article e0349645. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0349645