I attended the University of the Witwatersrand where I received my bachelors, honours, masters, and doctoral degrees. Following the achievement of my PhD I took up a post-doctoral position at Cornell University in the USA. In January 2015 I joined the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the University of the Western Cape. My research has historically focussed on the natural history, ecology, behaviour, evolution, and conservation of reptiles and amphibians, but particularly snakes. My current research primarily aims to understand the functional importance of snakes in African ecosystems.