2016-present Director, Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M), Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield 2014 Elected Fellow of the Royal Society 2009–2014 Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award holder 2002 Appointed to a Personal Chair, University of Sheffield 2008–2009 Edward P. Bass Distinguished Visiting Environmental Scholar (Yale University) 2001–2003 Philip Leverhulme Prize holder 1994–2002 Royal Society University Research Fellow, University of Sheffield 1990–1993 Postdoctoral research associate (×2, NERC, EU) 1990 PhD (botany), University of Wales, College of Cardiff 1987 Honours Botany, University of Wales, College of Cardiff

My interdisciplinary research group focuses on fundamental questions concerning how photosynthetic terrestrial ecosystems and the global environment co-evolved over the last half billion years. Our approach integrates evidence from fossils, experiments with terrestrial organisms, and rigorous theoretical models applied across spatial scales. We focus particularly on key processes and interactions important for revealing insights into the conquest of the land by plants, and the role of terrestrial ecosystems in shaping global ecology, climate and atmospheric composition. Our research findings also inform understanding of current anthropogenic climate change issues facing humanity.