Her research investigates the drivers of variation in forest structure across the globe. In the UK she has a keen interest in natural regeneration, rewilding and landscape ecology. She is also part of an international team assisting with contributions to the AFOLU sector of the UNFCCC Secretariat.

Heather joined the research group in October 2018, to manage the European Space Agency's Climate Change Initiative (CCI+) Biomass project. The project aims to map global above-ground forest biomass in order to improve climate modelling and assist with the global carbon stocktake. As part of her work she is also undertaking research into the spatial variation of the relationship between forest height and canopy cover using spaceborne LiDAR data. She graduated from Aberystwyth with an Environmental Science degree in June 2018, and is currently also undertaking a PhD.

Prior to her undergraduate she spent several years working in the French Alps before moving back to the UK and managing a glazing business in the South West of England.