Building an interdisciplinary research profile with the Future of Human Reproduction team

In the first of our series, we are delighted to introduce Dr Alexandra Krendel, Lecturer in Applied Linguistics, University of Southampton.

Joining the team

I joined the FoHR research project after applying for the Research Associate role. At that point, I was in a string of short-term contracts, having worked at Lancaster, the University of Edinburgh, and Birmingham City University on a mix of teaching and research projects.

My research contributions

I worked on the Linguistics strand of the project with Professor Elena Semino, leading workshops on corpus linguistics for the team and conducting the initial analysis work on a study comparing the biobag versus Ectolife.

Working with FoHR opened up opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration that I hadn't anticipated. Professor Sharon Ruston introduced me to Dr Mike Ryder, which led to us working on a literature paper together: Role of science fiction in conceptualising the reproductive future: a linguistic and literary perspective. The fact that this just happened was amazing. I never thought I'd get published in a BMJ journal – normally when I publish, it's in linguistics journals. I've always tried to be interdisciplinary in my work, both on my manosphere research and with the FoHR project, but for me, this publication was a sign that the interdisciplinary approach was truly working. It meant going completely outside my field where I was a complete unknown, rather than just having my own colleagues validate my work.

I also presented FoHR work at four international conferences across multiple disciplines in 2024, including events focused on linguistics, discourse analysis, medical ethics, and literature and science.

This was a significant step outside my comfort zone, but I felt supported by the team in ways that made it far less nerve-wracking than it could have been.

Skills and confidence I developed

The experience of working on FoHR helped me develop personally and as a researcher. I feel freer to share ideas than I did previously because everyone on the team brought their own disciplinary perspective, experience, and their own personality – everyone was very uniquely and individually themselves. I had felt less confident bringing myself fully to conversations before this, but through FoHR I became more confident in contributing to disciplinary conversations of all kinds.

I also developed my listening skills further, gaining a deeper appreciation of how other people talk about their disciplines. My mind opened. Even when I heard ideas that were completely outside what I knew and understood, I became better equipped to take a step back and genuinely try to understand and engage with them. The project enhanced my listening skills in ways I hadn't experienced before.

As an early career researcher, I particularly valued learning to slow things down sometimes and take the opportunity to let ideas percolate rather than rushing to outputs.

Where I am now and what's next

I am now a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Southampton while continuing with FoHR as a Research Collaborator. At Southampton I teach and design modules on digital media, language, and communication. I've been able to bring the FoHR work into my teaching – in one seminar I used biobag comments from the project data and had students analyse the attitudes and judgements within them. It generated substantial discussion!

Looking ahead, it would be great for FoHR to receive further funding so we can continue this research working as an interdisciplinary team. I'm also eager to develop my policy engagement work, particularly around the manosphere. I've already contributed to several calls for evidence, including from the Women and Equalities Select Committee on the manosphere and online harms, and this is work I want to continue. Watching Steve and Laura bring their academic expertise to policy discussions on IVG has shown me how social sciences can contribute meaningfully to policy work, and I see that as a model for my own future engagement.

Related Blogs

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  Meet FoHR's Early Career Researchers: Dr Georgia Walton

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  Exploring Tomorrow: Insights from Our Future of Human Reproduction Milestone Event

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