I am a biologist who trained at the Universities of London and of Nairobi.

Paid work I did at both a government research laboratory in Kenya and at the University of Edinburgh. Research results were published in formal, international, journals: about one each year and a similar rate for papers that I collaborated in. These publications were in the field of parasitic diseases of livestock animals, specially those involving insects, mites and ticks. Working visits were made to countries in the Americas and Africa, also to India and Australia.

I started writing books in 1994 with a guide to parasites of livestock. Several similar identification guides followed through collaborations. Now my writing is for people with interests in the nature of plants. The Trees of the People material is presented as regularly updated short chapters. Identify Mountain Flowers ... here has been fully revised in 2024 with new photographs and maps and simpler text.

I gather information for writing from field visits, scientific literature, National Library of Scotland, purchased text books, and the botanists and foresters that I meet through the three national societies I belong to.

My wife and I live in Scotland. To relax we go amongst the woodlands and mountains of Europe, seeking interesting flowers and woodlands, equipped with guidebooks and camera.