I have a BSc (Hons) and PhD (both in genetics) from University College London. For my PhD, I was based at the Natural History Museum in London. After postdocs in Glasgow and Aberdeen I moved to New Zealand in 2002 as a Marsden-funded postdoc at Lincoln University and then went on to be a Lecturer & Senior Lecturer in Entomology there until 2017. At that time my research mostly lay at the interface of genetics and entomology. From 2017-2022, I worked for Christchurch Public Libraries mostly in a community education role and in July 2022, I returned to university teaching in the School of Earth & Environment at the University of Canterbury, where I teach a large first year undergraduate course on science and society. My research interests now are much more concerned with community engagement with science, particularly biodiversity. I also have a Postgraduate Diploma in Tertiary Teaching from the University of Canterbury, and a Graduate Certificate in Library and Information Leadership from the Open Polytechnic.