My first foray into archaeology was in the early 90s, and took the form of a work placement during my final A-Level year on an excavation in Leicestershire run by what is now the University of Leicester Archaeology Services. I went on to work at the native American site at Lubbock Lake, Texas during my gap year. My academic career began with a BSc in archaeology at Bournemouth University, which is where my interest in archaeozoology began under the tutelage of Mark Maltby, and was consolidated during two visits to Novgorod, Russia, cataloguing the animal bones as part of an international team.

I set up as a consultant archaeozoologist following this and undertook a Masters at the University of Leicester in Post-Excavation Skills, including an archaeozoology module overseen by Annie Grant. I enrolled in this course to provide a more holistic understanding of post-excavation analyses. I continued to work in a consultant capacity, and in 2009 was offered funding for a PhD as part of the Wallingford Burh to Borough project which was completed in 2011 under the supervisors Richard Thomas and Neil Christie.