I am a marine and polar scientist who was Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government on Food and the Environment. I am currently a professor at the University of St Andrews and the Chairman of the UK Research Integrity Office.

I previously served as the first Director of the Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, and as Director of the Sea Mammal Research Unit. I am leading the move to sustainability at the University of St Andrews. I spent 14 years leading a research programme in Antarctica studying the structure and dynamics of energy flow in the Southern Ocean. I have received the Scientific Medal of the Zoological Society of London, the Bruce Medal for Polar Science and the Polar Medal. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. I am President-elect of the Royal Society of Biology.

I originally graduated from the University of Aberdeen with a degree in zoology and I have a PhD from Cambridge University. I have also been awarded several honorary degrees. I was knighted in 2019 for services to science and economics in government.