I am interested in how soil and leaf-litter invertebrate communities respond to human impacts, particularly in forest and urban ecosystems. I am passionate about UK biodiversity, its identification and recording, and am an active member of many natural history societies.

I am currently a Post-Doctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum, London on the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research programme Excalibur. 16 partners across Europe are aiming to improve understanding of the links between management practices, soil biodiversity, crop health and productivity.

I completed a BSc in Natural Sciences with the Open University in 2011 followed by an MSc in Taxonomy and Biodiversity at Imperial College London and PhD in 2020. My PhD was funded by NERC through Imperial’s Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet Doctoral Training Programme and focused on soil and litter biodiversity, investigating how the composition of these communities respond to land use change. My research used a range of methods, including collating existing data using the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial System) framework to build global models of soil biodiversity responses to land use and soil properties. I also collected new data on soil invertebrate diversity in different land-use types in the New Forest, Hampshire, UK and on earthworms through my citizen science project – Earthworm Watch – developed in partnership with The Natural History Museum and Earthwatch Institute, in association with the Earthworm Society of Britain. 

I am passionate about engaging the public, especially young people, in entomology and am trustee and Membership Administrator for the Amateur Entomologists’ Society. I recently joined the Royal Entomological Society Outreach Committee.