I graduated from the Institute of Earth Studies, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1989, and gained my PhD from the same institution (1994). Following a lectureship in Environmental Science at Kingston University, I moved to Northumbria University in 2000, becoming Head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences in 2008 (until 2017). In 2016 was awarded the title of Professor of Environmental Geochemistry and Health.

I’m a Fellow of the Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health, and on the steering group of the North-East Contaminated Land Forum which facilitates interaction between academics, practioners and regulators. I’m also co-founder of DustSafe and the recently launched Home Biome project, a global research initiative to obtain baseline data on chemicals and microbial communities in regular households via a global citizen science-academic partnership (see mapmyenvironment.com). Prior to this I was co-investigator on the Newcastle Allotments Biomonitoring Study, collaborating with specialists from the Health and Safety Laboratory, Public Health England, and the Environment Agency to promote evidence-informed policy-making in human exposure science.

My research addresses problems at the interface between geochemistry and human health and evidences my commitment to improve environmental practice, policy and decision making in a complex real-world environment. I’m interested in understanding our exposure to environmental pollutants, such as in soils, dusts and air, and ways to reduce this exposure.  My involvement in environmental geochemistry extends over 25 years and principally focusses on the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in the environment.