I grew up in North Wales, in a small mining village, and following the Welsh maxim that .A man who does not leave home never learns anything., I went away to college at Coleg Y Brifysgol, Caerdydd (University College Cardiff). I received my B.Sc. in Microbiology in 1979 and for the next few years pursued an industrial career. Following a chance meeting in a pub during a morris dancing stop I grabbed an opportunity to work with recombinant DNA at Leicester University. By the fickle finger of fate I also had an opportunity to complete a Ph.D. in 1988 working with pneumolysin, a thiol-activated toxin from S. pneumoniae. I then came to the States for some BTA (been to America). Landed in Memphis TN working with both Group A Strep and later on chicken influenza at St. Jude's Children's Hospital. After my post-doc I got on the wrong plane and ended up at UK (University of Kentucky) rather than the UK (United Kingdom). In Lexington I initially worked on streptococcal diseases of horses, interrupted by spells in industry and teaching. Looking for a new challenge I was happy to move to salamander research where I am currently a research scientist and in charge of .The Robot. (a Tecan genesis 200 liquid handling platform), as well as working with James on spinal cord regeneration. Although I have learned a lot on my travels, working with salamanders ensures I still have a lot of traveling to do.