Fiona has undertaken fieldwork in relation to research relating to material culture and its use, especially in Indonesia. She spent two years in Jambi researching batik there, with subsequent study visits to research house building and other anthropological subjects. Shorter study visits to research textiles in Java, Bali, Cambodia and Isan, for example, have fed into a deeper understanding of the local significance of items in museum collections.

Fieldwork has been essential in allowing the gathering of first-hand anthropological data for her research work. During fieldwork visits she has also made collections for the University of Hull Southeast Asia Museum and for the Horniman Museum.