Hester is currently contributing to various projects on crisis management and governance within the School, including the development of a new teaching programme and the organisation of a Risk and Resilience conference.

Previously she worked as a research officer on a Blavatnik School and Wellcome Trust project on Covid-19, assessing the pandemic response in the UK as well as other countries. Examining governance and crisis capabilities, while formulating lessons going forward, this project culminated in the report Crisis Preparation in the Age of Long Emergencies, co-authored with Professor Ciaran Martin and Maximillian Fink. She has furthermore been involved in a large comparative research study on Covid-19 and coordination across different tiers of government, led by the University of Nottingham.

Hester has a PhD in Governance from the University of Bath and holds an MA in Politics from the University of Amsterdam integrated with Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh, and an MSc in European Social Policy at the London School of Economics. Besides academic research and publications, she has worked for various organisations including the Dutch government department of Social Affairs and Employment.