After studying Animal Science at the University of Edinburgh, Susan did a PhD investigating the behaviour and welfare of sows during pregnancy, parturition and lactation.  She then worked at SRUC as a researcher on maternal behaviour of sows, the impacts of pre-natal stress on piglet development, and the genetics of piglet survival. 

She then combined her interests in animal behaviour and welfare with teaching, and became Programme Director of the well-established, internationally known, MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare at the University of Edinburgh Vet School.  During the 7 years Susan was Programme Director for this MSc she taught and supervised many MSc students on a wide variety of species and investigated many different welfare concerns. Her current research area is the welfare of fish within Aquaculture.

In 2018 Susan joined the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security as a Senior Lecturer in Animal Science.  Her main responsibility is the development and delivery of the education provision within the Global Academy including being Programme Director for the BSc Programmes in Agricultural Science.