My fascination with aquatic parasites began during my BSc in Biological Sciences at Westfield College, University of London. I then undertook a PhD studentship on Sanguinicola inermis, a blood fluke parasite of carp, at Royal Holloway, University of London in collaboration with Thames Water. I managed a Fish Parasitology and Pathology Consultancy at Royal Holloway and worked as a lecturer in life sciences at Middlesex University, London. During a Leverhulme Trust Research Postdoctoral Fellowship at Exeter University and Royal Holloway, I carried out research on the biology and salinity tolerance of Anguillicoloides crassus, a pathogenic swim bladder nematode parasite of European eels. I ran my own aquatic consultancy company, Crucian UK, for several years but then returned to university life. I joined Kingston University as a research fellow and was appointed to a lectureship. I have worked as an associate professor in parasitology at Kingston University focusing on schistosomes and aquatic parasites and vectors and am now a Visiting Senior Fellow.
Visiting Senior Fellow in Parasitology