I have been passionate about wildlife since an early age, spending my formative years in the wilds of the west of Ireland surveying birds and bringing bits of the countryside into my home. I completed my BSc in Zoology at Imperial College London, and a PhD in Evolutionary Ecology at Imperial College at Silwood Park supervised by Professor Sir Charles Godfray FRS. Following a brief post-doctoral stint at the NERC Centre for Population Biology at Imperial, I joined Reading as a lecturer in Zoology in 2000, progressing on to become Professor of Ecology, while also having senior leadership roles as Head of School of Biological Sciences, and latterly as Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic planning and Resources). I joined Royal Holloway in September 2023 as Professor of Zoology and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic Strategy, Planning and Resources), where my responsibilities include oversight of research.

My research focuses on two areas. My current research focus is on how people affect ecological systems, primarily investigating how increasing urbanisation influences the diversity and distribution of birds, mammals, and insects. I also have a long history of studying host-parasitoid interactions, asking how variation in host or host plant phenotype affects defence and counter-defence at higher trophic levels. More recently, this has shifted to a focus on human perspectives through working on insect pests and how interactions are affected by urbanization. I also have linked research interests which encompass global conservation issues, including human-leopard conflict in South Africa, human-sloth bear conflict in eastern India, climate change and grakles in the USA, and interactions between people and macaws in urban Brazil. My developing work builds on links with researchers in the cerrado of southern Brazil, where we are at the initial stages of projects studying how increasing urbanization and intensification of agriculture is affecting the distribution and habitat use of pumas and jaguars.

I have been active in science communication and outreach, most notably editing and co-authoring four books in the 30-Second series of popular science books (Evolution, Biology, Ecology and Zoology, the latter of which was chosen as one of the natural history books of the year by BBC Wildlife magazine), and co-authored four editions of Garden Entomology booklet, which has been circulated nationally by the Royal Entomological Society. I have given many talks to conservation and wildlife groups and invited and plenary lectures at conferences, universities, and research institutes. I won a silver medal at the Chelsea Flower Show for work on improving the biodiversity of lawns. I have also featured widely on broadcast (including Autumnwatch, Springwatch, and Countryfile Diaries twice), all national news channels, each of the main news programmes on Radio 4, and many times in print media across the world, including major pieces in the Guardian, Telegraph, Financial Times, New York Times and Scientific American.

I have a wide range of experience in teaching ecology and zoology, with an emphasis on fundamental patterns in ecology and the ecology, evolution and behaviour of birds. Connecting students with biodiversity in the field is fundamental to my approach, whether as practical work in local field classes, or through field trips and project supervision. I have led field courses to Scotland, Spain, Java and Borneo, Madagascar, and Ecuador and the Galapagos, and supervised students working in the Caribbean, Malaysia, Borneo and South Africa. Seventeen undergraduate students have coauthored papers with me, based on work they completed for their final-year projects. In the past I have acted as external examiner for Masters level programmes at the University of Glasgow and Harper Adams University, and led external reviews in the University of Lincoln.