I trained in both archaeology and biological anthropology. I read for a BA in Archaeology and Prehistory at the University of Sheffield. I then pursued a PhD in hominin palaeontology at the University of Liverpool. Subsequently, I spent three years as a Wellcome Trust Bioarchaeology Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at University College London. At Sheffield my main mentors were Marek Zvelebil and Andrew Chamberlain. At Liverpool I was supervised by Bernard Wood. My postdoc research was supervised by Leslie Aiello.

I have worked in a variety of capacities in the UK, the USA, and Canada. At the end of my postdoc, I was employed as a lecturer (the equivalent of an assistant professor) in the Department of Anthropology at University College London. In January 2003, I moved to the Department of Anthropology at Washington State University-Pullman to take up an assistant professorship. Eighteen months later, I joined the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia as an assistant professor. In July 2007, I moved to the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University to become an associate professor and Canada Research Chair. I was promoted to Full Professor in September 2011.

In addition to the foregoing positions, I run the SFU Human Evolution Journal Club [website] and an associate member of the SFU Department of Biological Sciences [website]. I am also an adjunct member of the Environmental Futures Research Institute of Griffith University, Australia [website], an adjunct member of the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witswatersrand in South Africa [website], and an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Sweden [website].

Currently, I am on the editorial boards of three journals:
Frontiers in Psychology Ι Evolutionary Psychology
Journal of World Prehistory
Queensland Archaeological Research

In addition, I am a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Lastly, I am a proud member of the Heterodox Academy and the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship. I joined these societies because history shows us that viewpoint diversity in academia is vital for progress in science and society more generally. Group-think is profoundly dangerous.