I was born and brought up in Cardiff, and in the (many) years since, I have moved around quite a bit.

My academic career started at Nottingham University in 1994, when I began a BA in American Studies. A mandatory component of the course was that I take part in a student exchange programme with a US institution. I ended up spending a semester at the University of Wyoming, Laramie. The experience had a lasting impact…

I graduated from Nottingham University in 1997 and immediately moved back to the US where I would settle for the next 12 years.

I graduated with an MA in American Studies from the University of Wyoming in 1999 and then settled in Iowa where I conducted doctoral research with Nottingham University whilst lecturing part-time in American History at St. Ambrose University, Iowa.

My doctoral research primarily focused on a combination of visual culture and social history, hence my continuing interest in films and their important role as social/historical documents.

In 2007 I was awarded my PhD in American Studies from Nottingham University.

I moved from Iowa to Manhattan in the same year and worked for a while on Madison Avenue as a researcher for Neilsen Marketing.

I moved back to the UK in 2009.

I now live and work back in Wales, living in Llantrisant with my partner, Ali, and my young daughter, Amber.