I created this site to encourage me to write more and publish anything worth sharing. It’s also a way for me to play around with Git, Github Pages, and Markdown. However, my illness means content will be added sporadically and infrequently, and there will be long spells when nothing will be added to the site.

I’ve now been ill with symptoms consistent with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) since late 2016, though I wasn’t fully well for several years before that. My diagnosis of ME/CFS seems to fit my symptoms and illness trajectory better than any other possible diagnosis.

Prior to becoming too ill to maintain a job, I worked in scientific research in the fields of atmospheric and ocean physics. I obtained my PhD from the University of Leeds in 2014, with a thesis investigating the role of ocean wave-breaking and whitecaps on air-sea exchange. I stayed in the same research group until the end of 2016, during which time my focus was investigation of air-sea exchange over Arctic sea ice. I was lucky enough to spend six weeks onboard the Swedish icebreaker Oden in summer 2014 as part of the SWERUS-C3 expedition.

In September 2017, I took a one-year position at ECMWF working on the representation of the ocean’s diurnal cycle in weather prediction models, but by this stage my health was declining further. I managed to stay in the role until the end of my contract with a lot of support and by moving first to part-time hours and then to remote working.

I worked part-time as a freelance copy-editor during 2019 and early 2020, editing manuscripts for publication in leading atmospheric science, ocean science, climate, and meteorology journals.

I was previously a member of the Patient Advisory Group (PAG) to the ME Research Collaborative (MERC), formerly known as the CFS/ME Research Collaborative (CMRC). MERC PAG supports patient-centred biomedical research into ME/CFS and ancillary processes by providing a direct patient voice — a voice that is as diverse and inclusive as possible. PAG’s primary role is to deliver a patient perspective on the board of MERC, but PAG also has key involvement with Forward-ME, the NICE guideline process, and, more recently, the UK government’s ME/CFS Delivery Plan.