I joined Cardiff University in August 1999 from George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA. I spent two years at George Mason and before that I was employed for ten years at the University of Teesside in Middlesbrough. I joined Teesside from Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education, High Wycombe, in 1987. My PhD in Computing was obtained from Imperial College, London in 1995 by part-time study during my time at Teesside. In addition, I have an MSc in Digital Systems (1987) which was obtained from Brunel University, also in part-time mode, while I taught at Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education. I have two first degrees: one in Biological Sciences from the University of Lancaster, and one from the Open University (mainly maths and computing subjects). In addition, I have a PGCE from the University of Exeter. I spent the early part of my career teaching in a school and a further education college in Somerset, and I also worked for a short period as a plant breeder for a seed company in Lancashire.