I am interested in the interaction between biology and the environment across large environmental gradients; for example, macro-ecological trends in the reproductive ecology of marine invertebrates (Thorson's Paradigm) and temperature-body size relationships. I am particularly interested in the role of phenotypic plasticity in adaptation to environmental variability. During my PhD I focused on developmental plasticity in larval decapods, specifically, variations in instar number during development. Through this research I developed an interest in the arthropod moult cycle and its interaction with the processes of growth and development, especially in larval decapods.

• Ph.D. Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton (2010 - 2014) Thesis title: "Decapod crustacean larval developmental plasticity and the evolution of lecithotrophy and abbreviated development". Supervised by Dr Sven Thatje and Dr Chris Hauton.
  • M.Sc. Oceanography (Distinction), University of Southampton (2008 - 2009
  • B.Sc. (Hons) Marine Biology (2:1), Newcastle University (2004 - 2007)

I am a zoologist specialising in arthropod growth, development and neurobiology.  I am interested in how brains develop and function to control behaviour and physiology, and how environment can influence brain development and function.  Here at Aberystwyth, I am using the amphipod model crustacean, Parhyale hawaiensis, as a tool to study crustacean brain development and function.

I was awarded my PhD in 2014 from the University of Southampton for work on plasticity in crustacean larval development.  I then joined Aberystwyth University working with Dr David Wilcockson on a project to unravel the neuropeptide control of crustacean moulting.  In 2018, I moved to Prof. Peter Dearden’s laboratory for evolution and development, University of Otago, NZ, where I worked on early embryogenesis in insects.  Returning to the UK in 2022, I joined the group of Dr Michael Hastings (FRS) at the MRC - Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, on a project that saw me hosted in Dr David Wilcockson’s lab.  This project sought to identify the molecular and neuronal basis of tidal time keeping in crustaceans. I joined Aberystwyth University as a Lecturer in Zoology in 2026.