I grew up in the north-east of Scotland, where my love of astronomy started at an early age, thanks to the wonderful dark skies there. I have been working as a science communicator since 2002, gaining experience by developing and presenting shows and workshops on a variety of scientific topics. In 2006 I started working specifically in the field of astronomy communication at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh.

In 2012 I was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to travel to Chile for six weeks, to learn about astro-tourism there, share best practice with other astronomy communicators and enhance my knowledge of professional telescope facilities. On my return, I developed curriculum-related educational material and worked closely with the physics teaching community in Scotland to support the use of astronomy as a context for teaching science at all levels.

The astronomy facilities I visited during my Fellowship included the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory. Since 2015 I have been working for this organisation, managing their Supernova Planetarium and Visitor Centre, which opened in 2018.