[2] Born in Cardiff, Shopland initially trained as an archaeologist, and performed various jobs internationally for organisations including The British Museum.

She frequently travels to give talks, including a presentation at the House of Commons to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act (1967) and to make TV and Radio appearances.

Clarke took her inspiration from the Ladies of Llangollen to write the poem Sarah at Plas Newydd, July 5th 1788, which appears in her collection Ice.

[5] The project created a timeline of notable Welsh LGBTQ+ history dates, people, allies and events that Shopland resurrected and published as an e-magazine[6] with funding from Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT) Pride[7] in 2020.

[12] In 2021 Shopland was commissioned by the Welsh Government to provide LGBTQ+ language and history training for all local museum, libraries, and archives in Wales.

[23] A regular contributor to LGBTQ+ History Month, Shopland wrote a guest blog for Llwydroeth Cymru/Welsh Government in 2018, in which she wrote about her motivation for researching and writing Forbidden Lives, concluding that 'Because history and politics aside, they're rattling good stories – and after all, everyone loves a good story!

'[24] Shopland also wrote a guest blog[25] for the Amgueddfa Cymru on the 'Ladies of Llangollen', who had featured in one of the stories from Forbidden Lives.

Following publication of 'A History of Women in Mens Clothes', Shopland wrote a guest blog for the Parliamentary Archives.

[28] On March 12, 2022 a new exhibition entitled 'Trawsnewid' (Transformation) opened at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, honouring Welsh LGBTQ+ people and their culture.