I use sedimentary records and the biological remains preserved in them to provide a historical context to modern marine ecosystems.  As a result I am interested in understanding the preservation biological remains in sedimentary records and the idiosyncrasies of palaeontological assemblages. I consider myself a conservation palaeobiologist, a taphonomist, and a malacologist. I think that the most interesting research questions are those requiring thinking outside the box and those that require a team of diverse backgrounds.

I like working with research students, not because I want help doing my research, but to encourage future scientists who share my research interests. I like to work with students with a clear passion and an interest in a particular topic to devleop and/or refine their approach. I have been the primary supervisor of 4 PhD students and 4 MRes students. I have contributed to the supervision of about a dozen PhD and MRes students.

Currently my teaching is focused at the BPhil / MRes Yr 1 level and I am the convenor of NSCI7900 and FOSE7000. I am the Director of the BPhil / MRes Yr 1 program for the School of Natural Sciences. As the director I am responsible for advising students on unit selection and working with the other BPhil unit convenors to ensure that we deliver a world class program.