Welcome to my small space at York! I am the Departmental Manager and webmaster (amongst other things) at the Environment Department here at the University of York, please read on to find out more..or click here to see the main site I look after.
For my sins, I have acquired the nickname "Badger" as the years take their toll on my hair colour, so if you are looking for information about the real thing, grovelling around the river bank and eating worms, then you’re in the wrong place.
These pages contain a bit more info about me, my likes and dislikes etc, as well as a few useful links to other sites. Just follow the hyperlinks and navigation bars to find out more........
I have a degree in Chemistry from the University of Nottingham and have worked as a chemist ever since, mainly making smells, blowing things up, starting fires and generally being dangerous! However, I have worked as many other things in and around that time - painter and decorator, fork lift truck driver, delivery van driver, analytical chemist in a toothpaste factory, painting white lines in the middle of the road, and I have built a house from scratch along with three other helpers, so I will turn my hand to most things. Chemistry style things I have done include 4 years as a research and development chemist in synthetic organic chemistry (radiation dosimetry via novel gamma ray sensitive polymers), 2 years studying metabolic fate of pharmaceuticals in humans including work on the carcinogenicity of a new anti-cystic fibrosis drug, 3 years as an environmental analytical chemist and then 4 years at York as Lab Superintendent.
Well, I am 40 years old and work as the Departmental Manager at the Environment Department at the University of York in the UK. The type of work we do is varied, but it consists of the economic considerations of environmental issues as well as an increasing component of Environmental Science. The department consists of ecologists, environmental scientists, and economists and hence we look at Environmental Issues from a wide variety of perspectives to develop the full picture.
I also take care of the health and safety of our staff and students. My area of expertise is in instrumental analytical chemistry, with particular interest in environmental matrices such as soil and water. I also take a keen interest in Health and Safety matters and possess a standard certificate in safety practices. I look after the department’s computing facilities, security, general facilities and first aid provisions.
On a personal level, I live in a small market town called Knaresborough in Yorkshire, about 15 miles from York and enjoy many things, including mountains, cycling (but not up the mountains), reading (Mervyn Peake is my favourite), listening to music of all kinds, and just the great outdoors in general.
My favourite musician must be Mike Oldfield and the Tubular Bells trilogy as well as Amarok, check out his official website, Dark Star.
My favourite author is Mervyn Peake and his best books by far must be the Gormenghast trilogy. Well worth a read sometime. Also a big fan of Thomas Hardy and the Bronte Sisters who lived in Haworth near my home town of Bradford.
I used to live on the outskirts of Bradford in a village called Addingham, near Ilkley. This must be my favourite place to have lived ever and hopefully, I will return there one day. A beautiful village on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
My other favourite parts of Britain are
Sutherland, in
Scotland, and the
Lake District
National Park. The mountains there are excellent places to while
away the days not spent being worked to death here.