I am an ecosystems ecologist/biogeochemist, with a main research focus on northern high latitude (and altitude) ecosystems and environmental change. I have worked in the Arctic since 1993, having previously research on air pollution effects on soils and ecosystems. I am passionate about ‘The North’, and attribute my love of cold, snowy and windswept places to my maternal heritage (from Sutherland, in the north of Scotland), going on expedition to North Iceland as an undergrad (back in 1983), reading Jack London novels, and possibly also to the lyrics of a Led Zeppelin song!