I am currently the Chief Executive of the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA). At the time of my Fellowship in 1997 I was a fire officer in Strathclyde Fire Brigade.

The purpose of my Fellowship was to understand how the USA and Canada educated people to use the outdoors safely and reduce the number of wildland and forest fires. In Scotland at that time more people were beginning to access the outdoors and in 1996 the country had experienced an unprecedented number of wildland and moorland fires. Since my Fellowship, the Scottish countryside has seen far greater access by people for recreation, and this has also coincided with climatic change and an increasing number of dry periods, resulting in wildland fires.

Following my Fellowship I was able to introduce some of the campaign methods used in the USA and Canada together with some educational programmes. The Fellowship was an excellent opportunity for me to find out how the North American fire departments worked. It also allowed me meet many fellow fire officers, some of whom I am still in regular contact with and have met again since. The Fellowship was the experience of a lifetime.