I obtained my Ph D from the University of East Anglia, U.K. on zooplankton ecology and the effects of nutrient additions, habitat structure and fish predation on a freshwater ecosystems. After a spell in nature conservation, I worked on estimating secondary productivity in the depths of Lake Malawi. In 1994 I moved to the University of Dublin, Trinity College, developing the Aquatic Ecology Group in the Department of Zoology. The group's research was on the effects of human impacts on aquatic ecosystems in both Europe and Africa. The European work was driven mainly by the needs of the EU Water Framework Directive, and the need to set up ecological assessment. The African work continued an interest in the Great Lakes of the African Rift , with an excursion into supervising a Ph D study the ecology of the Makgadikgadi salt pans of Botswana. In 2011 I moved to UNESCO-IHE, The Netherlands, as Chair of Aquatic Ecosystems. This has further develop my understanding of the links between human pressures with ecological integrity. The work of the Aquatic Ecosystems Chair group focusses on nutrient cycles, management, including the use of constructed wetland for pollution control, and the links between ecological functions and policy. Current work includes investigations of ecosystems functions and pressure from human use of wetlands and pollution emissions in the East African Lakes region, and developing teaching and policy relevant solutions to aquatic management and its place in wider concepts of Integrated Water Resource Management. An interest in the applications of conceptsof integrity to ecosysyems and governamce, and the need to address environmental problesm in awider context has encouraged further interest in stakehiolder dialogue and economic valuation of wetlands.