CV

Cardinal Newman High School

Jul 9, 1981

1981 - 1985
10 GCSEs at grade C or above
GCE Maths (C) - sat a year early
GCE Human Biology (B) - sat a year early

- 1991 A'levels

Jul 9, 1988

St John Rigby College: 1988-1991
A'level General Studies (A)
A'level Biology (B)
A'level Chemistry (D)

- 1995 BSc Ecology

Oct 1, 1991

University of Dundee: 1991 - 1995
BSc hons (2:1) Ecology

6 weeks NHM (London)

Jul 6, 1994

NHM Summer Studentship
- studying the colour dimorphism of the Jewel Thrush family (Pitta spp)

- 30 Sept 1994 Scottish Crop Research Inst.

Jul 9, 1994

Summer 1994
- laboratory assistant: data entry, yield measuring in a project on winter barley hardiness.

3 months Fieldwork Assistant

Jul 1, 1995

Trinidad & Tobago
- 3-months assisting a bird survey of Trinidad: mistnetting, biometrics, ringing, recording data.

University of Durham

Jan 6, 1996

Research Technician
- responsible for maintaining animal and laboratory supplies and databases, animal husbandry, running experiments.

10 months Chimpanzee Researcher

Jul 12, 1996

Fieldwork: Tai Chimp Project, Ivory Coast, W. Africa
- managing a remote field camp for the daily observation of chimpanzee movement and behaviour. I had two local french-speaking assistants to direct and daily reports on chimp activity and weather station data to process, including my own observations.

- Sept 1998 MSc Zoology

Oct 9, 1997

University of Liverpool: 1997 - 1998
MSc in "Evolutionary Psychology"
I used the data collected in the Ivory Coast to examine the influence of biotic (social rank, reproductive opportunity, food abundance etc) and abiotic factors (weather patterns) on group sizes in a chimpanzee population.

- Dec 2002 PhD Zoology

Oct 9, 1998

University of Liverpool: 1998 - 2002
PhD in Biochemistry & Animal Behaviour
Using semiochemical techniques (head-space and hexane extraction chromatography, ELISA, IEF, SDS-PAGE, Quantitative Colorimetry) I investigated the competitive signalling behaviour of rodents.

- Aug 2005 PDRA: animal navigation

Jan 20, 2003

University of Liverpool
A collaborative project for which I worked on a novel pheromone used by mice to navigate new areas, assess their suitability.

- Mar 2006 Freelance Ecologist

Feb 1, 2006

Collecting land usage data and scat samples for a nationwide survey of mammals on behalf of the University of Bristol's Mammal Unit.

- now Freelance Researcher

Jan 12, 2008

Ecology work, literature reviews, information sourcing and compiling, proof-reading, website design and maintenance, photography commissions and photography artwork sold through local West Country venues.