I am an education-focussed academic whose scholarship and research interests focus on how societal change influences educational policy and practice in HE.  I address questions in this area by integrating current pedagogies with institutional research approaches to design, recommend and implement local, national and international education enhancement activities.  I am also interested in considering how the curriculum developments driven by societal change can be implemented in a way that promotes good wellbeing in staff and students.

I have a track record as an educator and strategic leader in teaching and learning change and enhancement, having served as Director of Teaching within the School of Biology and as Associate Dean for Education for the Faculty of Science.  I am current the Head of School for Biology.

I have served on several senior university committees, including Learning and Teaching Committee, Strategic Curriculum Approval Group, Academic Monitoring Group and Information Compliance Group.  I have led institutional workstreams on Assessment, Generative AI and Reasonable Adjustments for Assessment.

I aim to develop impact from my activities by engaging in national and international committees, working groups and research activities.  I curently lead a national working group developing a Scottish HE framework for Generative AI in the curricum and assessment on behalf of Universities Scotland Learning and Teaching Committee.  Working with the European University Association (EUA) I led a thematic Group that exploring the factors that influence wellbeing in staff and students that resulted in a report making a series of recommendations, supported by good practice case studies, that was circulated to over 800 European Univertsities. I represent Universities Scotland on the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Strategic Steering Group and am a member of the SQA's Learners with Additional Needs working group.  I am also a steering group member for the Higher Education Institutional Research (HEIR) network and the Scottish Teaching Biology in HE network and a member of the SULSA Skills Committee.  I have served as a External Examiner and institutional reviews at several Russell Group and other leading universities.

Prior to becoming an education-focussed academic, my research interests lay in the areas of membrane trafficking and regulated exocytosis.  My research focussed on the role of protein isoforms in regulated exocytosis and the role that post-translational modifications (phosphorylation and palmitoylation) play in this process.