Having joined ERI as a Research Fellow in 2011, I am currently Senior Research Fellow and theme leader for “Environmental Contamination and Ecological Health”. Prior to ERI I spent four years in Spain, at the University of Castilla-la Mancha, where I held a “Juan de la Cierva” Research Fellowship. Before this, I spent 7 years at the University of Aberdeen undertaking my PhD (in arsenic biogeochemistry) and subsequently a post-doctoral teaching and research fellowship.

I have 30 years experience in the environmental sector and have worked not only within academia, but also within industry (in Power Generation/Flue Gas Desulphurisation) and in regulation (having worked for the UK Environment Agency for 4 years). I hold a broad range of interdisciplinary research interests which are founded on a background in earth science, soil science and biogeochemistry. Current research tends more towards ecotoxicology and the fate, behaviour and effects of pollutants and toxicants within the environment. Much of my work involves the use/application of advanced analytical techniques (LC-MS/MS (ToF, triple quadrupole), GC-MS, ICP-AES, ICP-MS, SEM-EDS, XANES/EXAFS, XRF) to answer questions regarding the uptake, transfer and toxicity of metals/metalloids and emerging contaminants (i.e., pharmaceuticals) at higher trophic levels (in birds, mammals, etc).

A primary research theme since 2004 has involved the study of the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), specifically diclofenac, on what are now Critically Endangered Gyps vultures on the Indian sub-continent. This work has been driven by an active on-going collaboration with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. For more comprehensive information regarding this research, please see the “Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction” (SAVE) website at http://www.save-vultures.org/.

Since 2004 I have been closely engaged with the SAVE (Saving Asia's Vultures from Extinction) conservation and research consortium. I also sit on the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for SAVE and have published >20 papers related to the collapse of Asia's vulture populations due to NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) poisoning. For more information on this, see:

• https://www.save-vultures.org/
• https://www.rspb.org.uk/join-and-donate/donate/appeals/asian-vultures/
• https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809665-9.09990-0