I was born British in the Netherlands, grew up in Belgium and have always loved the history, especially the arts, of the Low Countries. I feel very fortunate to have had an expatriate upbringing surrounded by several languages, cultures and religions, before reading Economics at Cambridge University. I researched my Master's in Indonesia, based out of Australia. Before having a family, I worked as a development economist around the world, advising on better design and implementation of government aid programmes, hoping to ensure taxpayers' money was wisely and appropriately spent in solving problems that needed solving. My second career is as a genealogist - which keeps my favourite activity of problem-solving, and is still about individuals, their data, and all the richness of their lives, just as fascinating and rewarding as my first career. I have appeared on BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? and regularly submit academic articles for a range of publications, based on my particular expertise in researching the Huguenots.