Emma Gallon is a Commissioning Editor in the Publishing team at Epigeum. She is responsible for commissioning and strategic development of a portfolio of courses, along with conducting research into trends in higher education and collaborating with experts in the field to develop programme content. Emma holds a PhD in Music from Lancaster University and has previously worked in research facilitation and open access at the University of Roehampton. She has a number of years’ experience in academic publishing.

What brought you to Epigeum?

My background is made up of a real mixture of experience in research, academic publishing, and research development. I was therefore very excited to take up the Commissioning Editor position for Epigeum’s Research list, as it lets me bring all of these bits of experience together for the first time. I was also attracted by Epigeum’s collaborative model, which allows several universities to feed into the development of a programme, and share their expertise and best practice to strengthen the course content and delivery.

Which parts of your role do you enjoy the most?

My professional roles to date have all centred on supporting research and researchers, and I’m an enthusiastic advocate for the importance of high-quality researcher development. I love to speak with researchers and academic development staff about their training needs, to hear about the fantastic initiatives being carried out at institutions, and to keep on top of what’s going on in the world of higher education and research. I can honestly say that working alongside our talented colleagues and authoring teams to translate this into programmes that are engaging and effective in equipping researchers with the skills and knowledge they need, is something I find very rewarding on a daily basis.

What does your workspace say about you?

My workspace, usually in the London Epigeum office but currently at home, is suspiciously tidy. I’d like to say that this is obviously because I’m well-organised and methodical, but I fear it’s more likely a sign that I’m an inveterate procrastinator…

What do you do in your free time?

My free time largely revolves around music: I play the piano, sing in a choir, and research and write about contemporary classical music as part of a small research network. In theory, in the next few months I should be performing at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, Southwark Cathedral and St Martin-in-the-Fields, and presenting my research in New York and Birmingham but unfortunately, in practice, the impact of COVID-19 is likely to put a stop to most if not all of these events. So I will mostly be spending my upcoming free time with my feet up!

Tell us something we don’t know about you.

I was once dared to eat a teabag, which I successfully did. It remains to this day one of my proudest achievements.

To find out more about Epigeum’s work with universities and colleges, or to arrange a consultation, please get in touch with us.