I'm mostly a palaeontologist, focusing on the early evolution of sponges, and to some extent on other groups (various worms and echinoderms), and exceptional preservation - with one eye fixed on ecological evolution through the Ediacaran to Silurian.

    I live in Llandrindod, central Wales (UK), a beautiful old spa town of 5000 people, with my wife and regular collaborator, Lucy Muir... except for when we're in China, working on short-term fellowships in Nanjing. In Wales, when I'm not doing fossils, I'm an entomologist and folk musician (these being how I make a meagre living), and run various community sustainability and biodiversity projects. If you want financial security, this isn't the life for you... but it certainly has its benefits!