BA (Hons) Biological Sciences, 2001, DPhil in Biophysics, 2007, St John's College, University of Oxford. Postdoctoral Scientist, 2007-2015, Max Planck Institute of Biophysics, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Now Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, California, US.

The world is inhabited by some amazing organism which can survive and reproduce in conditions uninhabitable by humans e.g. deep sea vents, nuclear fallout areas, and toxic metal mine shafts. These organisms process extraordinary metabolisms which neutralize or even incorporate toxic compounds into their cellular processes in order to enhance their own survival. By analyzing these organisms at an atomic level we are aiming to determine how organisms deal with toxic compounds. Our ultimate aim is to incorporate our emerging knowledge into new technologies for the remediation of land and the reduction of industrial pollution. Likewise, we are analyzing pathways involved in CO2 hydration in order to develop tools to remove CO2 from the atmosphere but also produce synthetic organisms that can synthesis food and polymers at atmospheric CO2 concentrations, a necessity for prolonged space travel.