Flick, scroll or use the arrow key to browse the examples.
Global Biodata Coalition
1 of 12
I created a new theme (code base) for the existing design. The
previous theme was not accessible and the content providers found it
difficult to edit the site. I made a simpler code base that loaded
faster, was more accessible, and made it easier to edit the site.
ELIXIR Europe
2 of 12
ELIXR Europe is a project that aims to make it easier to find, share
and analyse life science data across Europe. It is funded by the
European Union and operates across 21 countries. I worked there from
2015 to 2024, and looked after this main website.
ELIXIR Europe
3 of 12
The bottom half of the ELIXIR Europe home page, which has changed a
bit since I left. The site ran on Drupal and featured an intranet,
Single Sign On, several registration and application system plus
information pulled in from APIs.
ELIXIR Europe
4 of 12
The first redesign I did of the ELIXIR Europe website. A Twitter feed
was in the grey box to the right. This screenshot was from early on in
the project (2015).
BioHackathon Europe
5 of 12
A site for an annual event that brought software developers, trainers
and bioinformaticians across Europe together to develop life science
resources. I was on the organising committee for the event. I made the
site with Jekyll hosted on GitHub.
RDMkit
6 of 12
A community-driven site that gives advice about data management to
life scientists. I wasn't the developer on this site but was on the
Editorial Board, and worked with colleagues to guide the structure and
design, and coordinate the content. We all contributed via Pull
Requests on GitHub.
BY-COVID
7 of 12
This was a European Commission-funded project that aimed to make
infectious disease data easier to deposit and find. This would allow
scientists to respond quicker to new pandemics. A colleague designed
the site and I coded it with Gatsby, a React-based Javascript
framework.
Infectious Diseases Toolkit (IDTk)
8 of 12
This is a project like RDMkit, and again hosted on GitHub. It gave
guidance for anyone in life or social science who dealt with
infectious disease data. I wasn't the developer but was on the
Editorial Board, and worked with colleagues to guide the structure and
design, and coordinate the content.
King's College, Cambridge
9 of 12
I ran the King's College, Cambridge website from 2008-15. I moved it
to Drupal and redesigned it twice. I developed an intranet and a High
Table booking system, and wrote most of the content, including almost
all the news stories. The screenshot is from 2013.
King's College Archives
10 of 12
I made some sub-brands whilst at King's. This one was for a guide to
the college archives. I also create a shop and a sub-brand for the
conference and dining department.
Turing Digital Archive
11 of 12
A PHP/MySQL-based site where you could search images of Turing's
documents held in the King's College archives (Turing was a fellow at
King's). The search integrated with Zoomify, an image viewer that
allowed you to pan around and zoom into an image. The site was made in
2013. Apologies for the blurry screenshot. It's the only one I could
get.
University and Life Experience
12 of 12
This was a project at Girton College, Cambridge, that looked at the
experiences of the first women to graduate from Cambridge. It was a
custom PHP/MySQL application where you could search information about
the backgrounds and lives of these women. It was finished in 2015, but
sadly never went live.
I've spent 25 years working in web development. Here is a quick summary:
1999-2003
Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, UCL, London.
I worked here after finishing an MSc in Neuroscience, and worked my first
website (for our lab). Note this institute is now called The Wellcome Centre
for Human Neuroimaging.
2003-2008
Institute of Historical Research, London.
My first full-time job as a web developer, as a junior and then as website
manager. I also started my own company making small academic websites.
2008-2015
King's College, Cambridge. I oversaw the main website and
redesigned it twice. I wrote much of the content, made microsites and sub-brands,
and took photos for the site. I also carried on my own company.
2015-2024
ELIXIR Europe
this is a European research infrastructure that aims to make life science
data in Europe easier to find, share and analyse. Again, I redesigned the
main site twice and worked on websites and projects from around Europe. I
paused my own company whilst working here, to abide by internal rules.
I re-started my company after leaving ELIXIR Europe. See my LinkedIn profile for more about my past jobs.
Me at the BioHackathon Europe 2023, Barcelona. This event brings
together software developers, bioinformaticians, data managers and
trainers to develop resources for the life sciences. The resources
could be software, standards or training materials. I was on the
BioHackathon organising committee.
Tasks
These are the things I've done in the above workplaces and in my own
business.
Coding and scripting. I've used a variety of technologies,
including traditional PHP-based CMSs like Drupal and Wordpress, to flat-file
systems like Jekyll and Grav, and JavaScript frameworks like React (with Gatsby
and Next.js).
Web design. I have designed sites based on existing brand
guidelines as well as created designs and logos for project from scratch.
Web writing and editing. I've written much of the content
for the sites I've worked on, and written style guides to keep the content
consistent. I've also coordinated content delivery from people across the organisations.
User experience (UX). I have run formal session with groups
as well as one-to-ones, to gather honest feedback.
Strategy. I have worked with stakeholders to establish the
priorities and primary users of the site. The resulting brief strategy document
helped guide the site content and features.
Legal and security aspects: I've been responsible for ensuring
accessibility, privacy and copyright regulations are met. I've also been responsibe
for the website and server security.
Server maintenance: I make no claims to be a server admin,
but occasionally I have had to maintain servers myself. These were Apache on
CentOS and Debian.
Digital imaging and photography: I have done a lot of image
editing and photography.
Database development: in earlier times, I did custom PHP/MySQL
development, where I designed the database (with normalisation etc).
Community projects. I have worked with teams on community
websites, and helped organise and run hackathons for European projects.
Staff training. I have trained some staff in basic web technologies
like HTML and CSS.
If I have to design a site from scratch, I like to get away from the
computer and gather design ideas on a piece of A2 paper. The first image
is of some doodles for ideas for the Turing Digital Archive website
(including copies some of Turing's own sketches). The second shows ideas
for a family history site I made, where I was looking at the design
elements of birth certificates and family trees, and using a mind map to
brainstorm. The banner on the home page shows some of these images.
Qualifications
Msc Neuroscience
BSc Psychology
CTEFLA (Certificate for Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
Diploma in Art and Design
Diploma in French (DELF B1)
Training
Web technologies change so fast that training is ongoing. I keep doing
online refreshers in the basic technologies (HTML, CSS, Javascript), and
currently have a subscription to Laracasts (PHP, Laravel, Javascript frameworks) and Learn Javascript.
I also do one-off courses. I'm currently doing one about UX at Coursera, and
did the W3C certificate in digital accessibility in Spring 2025.
I keep up my interest in art, design and photography. In 2025 I did a series
of courses in printmaking at the Curwen Print Centre (a renowned place to learn printmaking). Printmaking is a sort of precursor
to the mass communication of the web!
