JennyRollo.com launching soon!

In the meantime …

I love uncovering the lives of those who came before us – following threads through archives, diaries, and forgotten histories – and exploring how their stories shape, and can reshape, who we are … or think we are.

I’m particularly interested in how memory and the family stories we grew up with help form the way we see ourselves and the world around us.

After more than a decade researching how and why memories are lost through Alzheimer’s disease, I’ve become just as interested in how they’re formed and how they shape our identity.

This work began with a simple question: where do I come from? And then, how did the lives of my ancestors shape who I am today?

What followed was a deep dive into family history, identity, and the stories that connect us across generations, which I’m now exploring through both a scientific and historical lens in my Substack newsletter, The Story Detective.

The Story Detective, is a bit of a Tiki Tour – a well-loved Kiwi expression for a journey where the destination isn’t always clear, but where you’ll hopefully learn something and have fun along the way.

I’ll be sharing:

• The stories I uncover and the research process that brought them to light
• The people behind the stories, and what their lives can possibly reveal about our own
• My personal journey as I piece together a bigger story, which I’m planning to eventually publish
• And lots of science-y stuff about brains, memory, identity and belonging.

So, why not subscribe to The Story Detective while I get my act together and finish building this website. Just click on the logo below to subscribe (it’s free!).