After reading Medicine and History of Art at Cambridge, I practised medicine in The Household Cavalry for thirteen years. Coming to the field of Conservation Biology later in life, I gained a M.Sc. from Natal University, South Africa in 2006 for my work on habitat selection and demographics of large mammalian herbivores in Ithala Game Reserve, South Africa.

From 2006 to 2010 I researched elephant and other large mammalian browsers/mixed-feeders in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa, investigating how these species influence savanna woodland dynamics over the long-term, and the implications this has for managing elephants – especially in the context of increasing calls for elephants to be culled in parts of South Africa. Based at WildCRU since 2006, I gained my D.Phil. in 2012. Holding the Kadas Research Fellowship, I am now continuing my work on African ungulates, including elephant, and their impact on ecosystem processes.