Born in Gravesend in Kent.

Educated at Gravesend School for Boys, and then to Ph.D. level at Imperial College in London, supervised by Prof. Stan Cowley, FRS.

Spent 5 years working in the Electrodynamics Branch at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre with Dr. James Slavin.

A temporary Lectureship at Queen Mary and Westfield, University of London, led into the award of a Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council Advanced Fellowship that was held at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL) from 1999 to 2004.

Have since held a Readership position at UCL/MSSL and was promoted to full Professor in 2008.