I`m a Research Fellow in the Centre for Timber Engineering at Napier University. I`m working on a three-year study investigating the impact of construction detailing on the service life of external timber cladding in areas exposed to wind-driven rain.

The study is particularly focused on the potential to use home-grown Sitka spruce as external cladding. The research takes the form of a field exposure trial and laboratory testing of spruce cladding. The aim is to produce standard construction details that can be published as a best practice guide. The study has extensive industry support because the sawmills recognise that external cladding could be an important market for them providing they can prove that the material performs satisfactorily in UK conditions.

I enjoy research and am particularly interested in the use of home-grown timber and in sustainable building.

I started off in Art College and then spent a few years working in that world before realising that I had made a terrible mistake. I then retrained at Hooke Park College in Dorset, which was then offering a two year post-graduate diploma in Forest Products Technology. This led to eight years as a Projects Manager with Highland Birchwoods, a woodland initiative based near Inverness. I left Highland Birchwoods three years ago to go self-employed as a timber research consultant, which in turn led to this job at Napier University. I enjoy self-employment and I`ll probably go back to it in a few years.