James is a molecular plant pathologist and plant nematologist within the CMS nematology group at the James Hutton Institute (Scotland). James has a PhD from the University of St Andrews, developing his 10 years’ experience working with plant-parasitic nematodes. His areas of interest include parasite-host interactions, specifically; hatching, nematode surface-coats, screening for host PCN resistance, investigating host tolerance to PCN and novel nematode management strategies.

James holds an honorary appointment at the University of St. Andrews where he provides introduction to nematology lectures and practical classes for undergraduate students. James also provides lectures on nematode life cycle biology for the University of Ghent International Master of Science in Agro- and Environmental Nematology (IMaNema) course. Additionally, he is a member of the AAB Nematology group and acts as Associate Editor for both Pest Management Science and MPMI.

James has had multiple career highlights including project managing the Scottish Government-funded PCN Action Scotland group, having an active role on two current EU projects and winning the Peter Massalski prize for meritorious research before the age of 36.