I was born in 1987 in Glasgow, Scotland, where I lived with my family until we moved to the Highlands in 2001. We lived on the south side of Glasgow and I attended Carolside Primary School (1992-1999) and Williamwood High School (1999-2001). From 2001 we lived in Dornoch, a small seaside town in Sutherland most famous for Royal Dornoch Golf Course. I was keen golfer growing up, playing at Cathcart Castle Golf Club in Glasgow and then Royal Dornoch and Tain Golf Clubs in the Highlands. I attended Dornoch Academy (2001-2005) and it was in Dornoch where I first became interested in mathematics. This was largely down to my teacher, Andy Thompson, who had a tremendous influence on me during this time.
My undergraduate degree was in Mathematics (MMath, 2005-2009) at the University of St Andrews. I had only been to St Andrews one or two times before arriving as a first year in September 2005. Little did I know how significant the place would become for me in the following years. During my time as an undergrad I was greatly influenced and impacted by many of the faculty, including approaches to teaching which I carry with me to this day. In Spring 2009 I seriously considered PhD offers from Manchester and Warwick before eventually deciding to stay in St Andrews (PhD, 2009-2013). I was supervised by Kenneth Falconer and Lars Olsen. Kenneth has been my long-term mentor and has had the most significant impact on my career and research interests. In my final year as a PhD student I was an enthusiastic member of the University Badminton Club and throughout my PhD I played for the St Andrews Table Tennis Club, competing in the Dundee and District League.
In Summer 2013 I moved to the University of Warwick as a Research Fellow working with Mark Pollicott. I was a member of the vibrant Dynamics Group which hosted numerous other post docs at the time and always had a lot going on. In Summer 2014 I was appointed to my first permanent position as Lecturer at the University of Manchester, where I worked until 2016. I played a lot of football during this time, both for the 'Turing Machine' and the 'Lecturing Machine', as well as recreationally under the Mancunian way. I enjoyed living and working in Manchester and would have happily stayed there but when the opportunity to return to my 'home' arose I could not resist. In Summer 2016 I moved back to St Andrews as a Lecturer and was promoted to Reader in 2018 and Professor in 2021. My work has since been recognised by the Royal Society of Edinburgh's Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane Medal (2022) and the Edinburgh Mathematical Society's Sir Edmund Whittaker Memorial Prize (2023). I was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2024.
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