I am a Lecturer in Astrophysics, a joint appointment between the Disciplines of Mathematics and Physics.

I obtained my PhD in 2007 from the University of St Andrews, where I remained as a postdoctoral researcher until 2009, working with Prof. Moira Jardine.  

In 2009 I moved to the University of Exeter after being awarded an STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) Postdoctoral Fellowship.

From 2010 to 2012 I was a posdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) working with Prof. Lynne Hillenbrand.

I returned to the University of St Andrews in 2012, where I was part of the inaugural cohort who were awarded an STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship.

In 2019 I moved to the University of Dundee to help build their Astrophysics research group and degree programmes.   

My research exploits the latest stellar magnetism data, and multi-wavelength observations of young star clusters, to construct theoretical models designed to tackle the big questions: How did the Sun, a star that influences life on Earth, form and evolve? How do stars and planetary systems develop?

I tackle these questions by examining the evolution of low-mass stars during the final stage of their formation, as they emerge from their natal dust clouds and complete their gravitational contraction. These pre-main sequence stars reveal the history of the Sun during the epoch of planet formation.

To date, my work has focused on the evolution of stellar magnetism; how young stars magnetically interact with circumstellar disks; the derivation of fundamental parameters for members of young clusters; the evolution of pre-main sequence stars; and X-ray emission from stellar coronae.

I am the UG Learning & Teaching Cluster Lead for Mathemathics and Physics. I currently teach the level 4 module MA41006: the Mathematics of Fluids and Plasmas I: Fluid Dynamics and the level 3 modules PH32005: Computational Physics I and PH32010: Computational Astrophysics I.