I trained as a social anthropologist and thus have an abiding interest in people and their cultural practices, that is, what they think, why they think in those ways and how this helps them to understand their universe and rationalise both their own behaviour and that of others. My interests extend to virtually all socially patterned phenomena, to understand the many, varied ways people have of being in the world and the different values and things they consider integral to ‘the good life’. I lecture to undergraduate and MSc students in Global Development at the University of Reading. I am Programme Director of the MSc in Agriculture and Development in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development. I supervise a growing number of doctoral students.