I graduated with a PhD from the University of Bath in 1985 where I researched the role of eggshells in preventing the movement of bacteria across the shell. Following time spent in post-doctoral posts at the University of Bath’s Department of Biological Sciences and the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, I moved to Scotland to the Poultry Science Department of what was then the West of Scotland Agricultural College. For 20 years I was Head of the Avian Science Research Centre in what was by then the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC), now Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).
Throughout my time at SRUC my research has focussed on poultry systems, ranging from intensive commercial systems through to the extensive backyard systems found across Africa and Asia. Challenges being researched currently include the role of biosecurity in controlling endemic, zoonotic and exotic diseases, including the on-farm control of Campylobacter, the main cause of food poisoning in Europe. In 2014 I became Head of the Animal and Veterinary Science Research Group at what is now called Scotland’s Rural College and am currently co-director of the Roslin Institute's National Avian Research Faculty (NARF).
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