I started as an undergraduate reading Botany at Pembroke in 1981, followed by a PhD in Stirling on stomatal physiology with Colin Willmer in 1984, a post-doc in Edinburgh with Tony Trewavas on calcium signalling, before returning to Pembroke as a Tutorial Fellow in 1989. I served as Senior Tutor from 2000-2003 and then Academic Director from 2008-2015, after which I became a Fellow by Special Election.  I will continue an association with Pembroke as an Emeritus Fellow, when I take over as Head of the Department of Plant Sciences in 2021. This is a pivotal moment in the history of Plant Sciences and Zoology, as the departments will merge to become Biology in 2022 in preparation for the move into the brand new Life and Mind Building in 2024. Whilst the undergraduate course has been run jointly for decades (and now has a 4th year research masters option), the merger and new build will catalyse opportunities for collaborative research ventures. In addition, we expect to revamp the departmental access and outreach programs to link up with the set of Pembroke hubs across the UK, following the amazing work of Peter Claus and the OxNet scheme.

I am interested in signal transduction in plants and fungi, particularly imaging dynamic responses using advanced microscopy techniques, and also form and function of biological networks. I teach aspects of plant and animal cell and developmental biology.