Sarah Johnsen is a Professorial Fellow in the Institute for Social Policy, Housing and Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) at Heriot-Watt University.  After completing her PhD in Human Geography at the University of Otago (New Zealand), Sarah worked as Research Associate in the Geography Department at Queen Mary University of London.  She was then employed as Research Manager for The Salvation Army (UK & Ireland) before moving to a post as Research Fellow in the Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York.  Sarah has been based at Heriot-Watt University since 2010.

Most of Sarah’s research focuses on homelessness, addiction, and related forms of street culture (e.g. begging and street drinking).  She has particular expertise in relation to ‘deep’ social exclusion and welfare provision for people with complex support needs such as co-occurring substance misuse and mental health problems. Sarah also has ongoing interests in the role of faith communities in welfare provision, and the practice and ethics of research involving vulnerable people.