I have always been interested in how things work, after school I studied Immunology and cell Biology, and became a research scientist. After many years of post-doctoral research with the Welcome Trust, I decided to follow my other passion in life, woodwork. I enrolled at college and retrained as a Joiner, worked on heavy structural timber framed buildings (oak frames), and became interested in ‘Eco buildings’. This journey led me to Borders College and I started to teach Carpentry and Joinery and work on low energy building projects. The last building project was a net zero sustainable self-build home for my family. With the climate emergency it is critical that we improve the energy efficiency of our built environment. In my role as Head of Sector, I can help to deliver training and upskilling to the future workforce to build a more sustainable future. Quote ‘Improving Energy efficiency and decarbonising the built environment are key to delivering our Net Zero targets. In order to reach this goal, we need to tackle the skills shortage. This can only be done by making careers in Construction attractive to young people and accelerating vocational training within Further Education Colleges’