I was born in Lancashire, England, and grew up in Thurso, on the north coast of Scotland. I did my undergraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen, graduating with First Class Honours in mathematics in 1986. I then stayed on to complete my MSc and PhD in General Relativity under Graham Hall, graduating in 1989.

From there, I took up a position as a research associate at Monash University in Melbourne, funded by the Australian Research Council.

In 1992 I came to the University of New South Wales as an Associate Lecturer, initially on contract. I was granted tenure in November 1998, was promoted to Lecturer at the end of 2001 and to Senior Lecturer in 2018. I was the School's Director of Undergraduate Studies from July 2007 to January 2021, was elected to the University's Academic Board in 2017 and re-elected in 2021 and 2023.