Overview
Interests
- light microscopy and imaging
- scanning electron microscopy
- Silurian/Devonian palaeobotany
Biography
- Part-time Senior Research Technician (50%) – School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, UK (2020 – present)
- Senior Research Technician – School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, UK (2001 – 2019)
- Research Technician – School of Earth & Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University, UK (1988 – 2001)
- Research Technician – Department of Plant Science, Cardiff University, UK (1984 – 1988)
- Research Technician – Department of Anatomy, Cardiff University, UK (1983 – 1984)
- Research Technician – Department of Physiology, Cardiff University, UK (1982 – 1983)
- Research Technician – Department of Botany, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK (1980 – 1981)
- BSc – Geology, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK (1980)
Publications
We are currently unable to retrieve the list of publications. Visit our institutional repository.I am the manager of the microscopy and imaging laboratory and also a back-up manager for the ESEM facility and I also look after the palaeobiology research labs.
My research expertise has been gained over 30 years, developing techniques for studying some of the earliest plants that lived on land in the late Silurian/early Devonian period, approx. 400 my ago. Some of the best fossils in the world (from this time period), come from localities close to Cardiff in the Brecon Beacons and also from the Welsh Borderland near Ludlow. The research involves the chemical maceration of rocks, followed by the extraction, identification and manipulation of the tiny fossil plants, <1mm, that are revealed. These are examined, to obtain detailed images of their anatomy, using light and electron microscopy.