Nina’s first degree was in performing arts in the 1990s. She then did a Masters in composing and became a sound artist working on radio features and documentaries. She started teaching at university in 2007 and began discussing a PhD in 2014, inspired by experimental projects for the BBC through which she was developing a way of working through musical storytelling. She completed her PhD by publication in 2018 at Bournemouth. It was entitled "Music, Narrative, Voice and Presence". What she had published was not written texts, but five composed audio features aired on BBC radio between 2009 and 2013. She explored the difference between practice research in academia and artistic inquiry, drawing on Robin Nelson's ‘Practice as Research’ methodology. Looking at authorial presence and embodied practice, Nina brought the role of music to the fore. The PhD process provided a grounding for her continuing exploration of freedom in creativity and different ways of knowing. She continues also to explore how to make the transition from practitioner to practice researcher when still relying on that practice for a living and negotiating the challenges involved in submitting to the REF when institutional support is limited.
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