Fellow of the Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Consumer Studies, the British Food Journal and Nutrition and Food Science.
Guest Editor of a British Food Journal Special Edition entitled 'Competitive Advantage in the Agri-Food Industry' for February 2006.
Guest Editor of the International Journal of Consumer Studies.
Guest Editor of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management [2007] entitled 'The Hospitality Industry: Ethnicity and Diversity in Consumers and Staff
Guest Editor of a Special Issue of the International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research looking at Family Business.
Guest Editor of a British Food Journal Special Edition entitled 'Competitive Advantage in the Agri-Food Industry' for February 2006.
Guest Editor of the International Journal of Consumer Studies.
Guest Editor of the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management [2007] entitled 'The Hospitality Industry: Ethnicity and Diversity in Consumers and Staff'.

My current research focuses upon family businesses – family businesses are the most common form of business in Scotland, they play a key role in economic development in urban but especially in rural and semi-rural areas and they operate in a distinctly different way to non-family owned businesses. In addition, family businesses are currently under-researched in Scotland although there is a substantial worldwide body of evidence to support both the different manner in which they operate and their importance economically, socially and culturally.

The development of a recent partnership with the Scottish Family Business Association, the Mid and East Lothian Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Unit within East Lothian Council lead to the launch in 2007 of the Scottish Forum for Family Business Research at QMU. Active and on-going participation in the development of a National Strategy for Scottish Family Businesses has been highlighted by recent collaborative research publications, by a recent invitation to represent academia in a panel discussion for the Scottish Family Business Association conference and by the speed with which this area has developed.

As a co-founder of the Scottish Forum for Family Business Research, much of my focus is on supporting support research and enterprise development activities that promote growth and business innovation in Scotland’s family enterprises and their local/regional communities. Research with the Scottish Family Business Association also builds upon a platform of successful research, knowledge transfer and commercialisation work, both as an academic and as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Manager for QMU.

Earlier research and knowledge transfer in the area of food and agri-business provided a platform for the development of an initial Knowledge Transfer Partnerships within the food industry, notably including strategic business development with Mrs Unis Spicy Foods and Simmers of Edinburgh. These projects formed the basis for the successful development, funding and launch of The Scottish Centre for Enterprise and Ethnic BusinessResearch [SCEEBR]. From initial work funded by a number of external bodies, including the Commission for Racial Equality, Scottish Enterprise, the Scottish Executive, the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and the Ethnic Enterprise Centre, SCEEBR developed into a fully-fledged research centre initially funded by the European Social Fund. SCEEBR currently supports a range of PhD studies and provides a platform for regular papers and bids for research funding.

Seaman, C. (2011) Gender, Roles and Influence in Family Business. Invited Contribution to the Inaugural ‘Women in Family Business Conference’. Norwich Business School. July 2011.
Seaman, C. [2011] Creating Space for Rural Business Development: The Role of Business Families International Family Enterprise Research Academy Conference June-July 2011.
Seaman, C. [2011] Creating Shaping the Future: Business Families in the Creation of Scottish Pottery International Family Enterprise Research Academy Conference June-July 2011.
Cunningham, J., Seaman, C. and McGuire, D. (2011) Knowledge-Sharing Culture and Business Performance in Small Family Firms ESRC Seminar Series on ‘Strategic Thinking in Second Generation Family Firms’. University of Kent, April 2011 ( invited contribution).
Collins, L., Seaman, C., Stepek, M. and Graham, S. [2011] None of Your Business: The Case for a Paradigm Shift in Teaching Family Business in UK Business Schools Management Learning. Under review.
Seaman, C. [2011] The Invisible Bedrock: Four Constructs of Family Business Space. World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development. Under Review
Graham, S. and Seaman, C. [2011] Driving a Scottish Family Business Forward; from Faither to Wee Lassie Case Study Published in ‘Father-Daughter Succession in Family Business’ – A Case Study Text Edited by Daphne Halkias, Paul Thurman, Paul Swiercz, Celina Smith and Robert Nason Gower Publishing.
Seaman, C. [2010] Family Futures: Emerging Challenges for Women in Family Businesses Invited Paper to the ‘Women in Family Business’ Conference at Bristol Business School September 2010.
Seaman, C. [2010] In Search of the Business Family: Exploring the Links Between Enterprise and Family Business British Academy of Management Conference Sheffield 2010.
Seaman, C. [2010] Resilience in Rural Business: Multi-Rational Networks in a Family Business Environment 8th Rural Entrepreneurship Conference University of the West of Scotland.
Seaman, C. [2010] Networks: Multi-Rational Routes for Knowledge Transfer and Dissemination? Invited Contribution to the ESRC Seminar Series on Family Business, Bristol Business School June 2010.
Seaman, C. [2010] Multi-Rational Networking: Factoring the Family into the Family Business Network ISBE London 2010 Seaman,C., Graham,S. and Falconer,P. [2009] Exploring Scottish Family Businesses: Economy, Geography and Community Int'l Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business 7 3.
Bent,R., and Seaman,C. [2009] Minority Ethnic Businesses: So Are We Really Saying One Size Fits All? Int'l Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business 7 3.
Silva,M., Bent,R., Seaman,C. and Falconer,P. [2009] Measuring the Financial Capability of Business Owners from Non-Traditional Ethnic Minority Groups in Scotland Int'l Journal of Entrepreneurship & Small Business 7 3.
Seaman, C. [2008] Wish You Weren’t Here? Impact of Demographics and the Ageing Population on Scotland’s Family Businesses Keynote Address SFBA Regional Workshop Glasgow November 2008
Seaman, C. [2008] Family Business in Scotland Invited Paper to the Scottish Family Business Association Conference, Edinburgh 2008
Bent,R., Seaman,C., Graham,S. and Silva,M. [2008] Bind We Are, if The Creation of this Clone Army We Did Not See [George Lucas] Conference paper for: Clone Towns: The High Street in Historical Perspective Centre for the History of Retailing, University of Wolverhampton 10 th-11 th September 2008
Seaman,C., Graham,S. and Falconer,P. [2008] Family Business in East Lothian Paper for British Academy of Management Conference, Harrogate
Seaman,C., Graham,S. and Bent,R. [2008] Innovation and Knowledge Transfer in Rural Entrepreneurship and Regional Development Abstract Submitted to the 6 th Rural Entrepreneurship Conference 22 nd May 2008 Organised by the Centre for Rural Regional Development
Seaman,C., Graham,S. and Falconer,P. [2007] Family Businesses in Scotland: In Pursuit of a National Strategy for Local Solutions. Invited Paper Presented at ‘‘Bridging Cultures’ Confronting Theory and Practice in Family Business’ 19-20 th November Lancaster University Management School
Seaman,C., Graham,S. and Falconer,P. [2007] Exploring Scottish Family Businesses: Economy, Geography and Community Paper presented at the 30 th Annual Conference of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship 7-9 November 2007 Glasgow.
Bent,R., and Seaman,C. [2007] Minority Ethnic Businesses: So Are We Really Saying One Size Fits All? Paper presented at the 30 th Annual Conference of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship 7-9 November 2007 Glasgow.
Silva,M., Bent,R., Seaman,C. and Falconer,P. [2007]
Measuring the Financial Capability of Business Owners from Non-Traditional Ethnic Minority Groups in Scotland Paper presented at the 30 th Annual Conference of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship 7-9 November 2007 Glasgow.
Bent,R. and Seaman,C. [2007] Herding Cats – Nobody Said Business Support was Easy Keynote Address at First International Colloquium on "Ethnic Entrepreneurship and Management, University of Bradford.
Dassler,T., Seaman,C. Bent,R. [2007] Co-Branding Business and Drama for Management Education – A Quasi-Experimental Approach Paper at First International Colloquium on "Ethnic Entrepreneurship and Management, University of Bradford.
Silva,M., Bent,R. and Seaman,C. [2007] In Search of the Latin American Community in Scotland Paper at First International Colloquium on "Ethnic Entrepreneurship and Management, University of Bradford.
Johns,N. Henwood,J. and Seaman,C. [2007] Culture and service predisposition among hospitality students in Switzerland and Scotland International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 19 2.
Bent,R., Seaman,C., Campbell,G. and Finkel,R. [2007] Free Beer! Abstract accepted for The European Institute of Retailing and Services Studies Conference in San Francisco July 2007.