Ian has a background in both landscape archaeology and Iron Age and Roman-period studies in northern England / southern Scotland (MA, PhD - University of York), focussed particularly on concepts of landscape, identity and frontiers / borders and how the three of these interact and inform one another during this period.

To examine such issues, Ian's research uses large-area, non-intrusive archaeological techniques (aerial survey, analytical field survey, geophysical survey) alongside excavated data. His PhD used aerial survey mapping to examine the interaction of indigenous and Roman societies across a wide area of northern Britain's Roman frontier, investigating whether such large-scale survey data can be integrated with archaeological theory to answer questions around past landscapes and identities.

Ian has previously worked for CIfA, Historic England and within the commercial sector as a specialist in remote-sensed survey techniques, including on several large-area landscape surveys for England's national Aerial Investigation & Mapping Programme in Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and on several site-based studies. He has taught on modules in Roman archaeology, landscape survey and excavation techniques for the University of York, including the undergraduate field-school at the Roman sites of Malton and Heslington East.

Ian has recently joined the University of Edinburgh's School of History, Classics and Archaeology as part of the Leverhulme-funded 'Beyond Walls: Reassessing Iron Age and Roman Encounters in Northern Britain' project. In this role, he will be responsible for the management, collection and analysis of data pertaining to surveyed and excavated Iron Age and Roman sites in the project area, analysing the relationships between these and the region's landscapes, as well as being involved in the project's research outputs.