I am a marine biologist with a particular interest in the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis that underlies the success of coral reefs.

I completed a BSc (Honours) degree in Zoology with Marine Zoology at the University of Wales, Bangor (UK) in 1990. I then remained at Bangor to study for a PhD in Marine Biology, when I first became interested in the symbiosis between cnidarians (e.g. corals, sea anemones) and the dinoflagellate micro-algae that live inside their cells.

After completion of my PhD in 1994, I held two postdoctoral fellowships. First, I worked with Dr. Clay Cook at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Florida, and then I worked with Dr. Rosalind Hinde at the University of Sydney; this latter position was supported by a fellowship from the Royal Society of London. During this time my research included fieldwork in the Florida Keys and on the Great Barrier Reef, where I worked on an unusual sponge-macroalgal symbiosis.

I returned to the UK in 1999 to take up a lectureship at the University of Plymouth, which is where I first began to work on coral viruses and coral disease, with marine virologist Prof. Willie Wilson. Together, we were the first researchers to report that viruses could play a significant role in coral health and the breakdown of the coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis.

After a brief stint at the Marine Biological Association of the UK (also in Plymouth), I moved to New Zealand in 2003 to take up my present position. I have continued my interests in the cell biology and physiology of cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis and coral reef ecology, with opportunities for me and my students to work at field sites across the Pacific Ocean, such as the Great Barrier Reef, Lord Howe Island, Palmyra Atoll, Japan and Hawaii. Much of my work utilises a tropical sea anemone ('Aiptasia') as a laboratory model for the cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Along with colleagues in the US (and in particular my close colleague Prof. Virginia Weis of Oregon State University), I played a key role in the adoption of Aiptasia as a global model for coral reef research. My research group is now one of the largest and most productive of its type in the world.

I was President of the International Symbiosis Society for 7 years and am currently a member of the Executive Team of the International Coral Reef Society, for whom I'm convening the 2026 International Coral Reef Symposium in Auckland. I am Serial Editor (= Editor-in-Chief) for Advances in Marine Biology, and also occupy positions on the editorial boards of several other international journals, including Coral Reefs.