I am a plant biogeographer based at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. For my PhD I studied tropical savannas from Africa to Australasia, investigating the ecology and evolution of a widespread genus Ziziphus (Rhamnaceae) to make inferences about functional traits, and their associations with ecological, geographical and evolutionary diversity. My PhD research also included a focus on the high rainfall savannas of Southeast Asia, which are very poorly studied. My research is some of the first to characterise grass communities in these systems.

My current research explores the charismatic and understudied 'underground tree' plant form, to ascertain its ecological and evolutionary drivers across the tropics.