Kate is Associate Professor in Sociology, and Deputy Head of the School of Social Work at the University of East Anglia. 

Kate is one of the UK’s foremost academics in the sociological study of veganism and human-animal relations, in particular looking at representations of nonhuman animals in popular media. Her current work focusses on the intersection of gender and species in cultural representations. She has been publishing in this field for over 15 years, including the ground-breaking 2014 book ‘Our Children and Other Animals’, co-authored with Dr Matthew Melsa (formerly Cole) of the Open University. She part of a research team studying the archive of personal papers of Donald Watson, one of the founders of the UK Vegan Society. Through this research she made a significant contribution to the 'Veganism Past, Present & Future' exhibition at the Library of Birmingham in summer 2025. 

She is Series Editor for the book series Emerald Studies in Vegan Sociology which marks the next stage of the recognition and evolution of ‘Vegan Sociology’ in creating a dedicated home for this growing scholarship. This book series both recognises and advances the field, bringing form to a previously nebulous field in sociology that has been in practice for many years but currently lacks dedicated publications that outline its parameters.