My interests are in the evolution and ecology of lizards, frogs and snakes. I began catching "herps" and fish as a kid, then studied lizards in North America as an undergraduate at the University of Washington, Seattle, then a Master’s at the University of Tennessee in Animal Behaviour on side-blotched lizards in central California focussing on dispersal and natural selection on body size of hatchlings. I moved to Sydney in 1992 to work with Professor Rick Shine on the evolution of life-history traits in skinks and geckos, completing a PhD in 1996. Postdoctoral research took me to Perth to work on tadpole ecology with Dale Roberts in the late 90s, and further research investigated a diverse range of subjects on tadpoles, lizards, fish, fruit flies and philosophy of science.

I've been at the WA Museum since 2003 in the Department of Terrestrial Zoology. Current projects are focussed on the taxonomy of geckos and frogs, but I'm also interested in specific groups of dragons, skinks and snakes. The Field Guide To Frogs of Western Australia, the Frog Watch website and FrogID are part of my commitment to public communication for frog biology and conservation.
I work with Parks & Wildlife and BushBlitz on field surveys of Western Australia frogs and reptiles, and with molecular laboratories at South Australian Museum, Melbourne Museum and ANU.