Ian has a background in European fisheries, having worked in Scotland before moving to New Zealand. He completed his PhD on scampi fisheries ecology in the early 1990s, before joining the FRS Marine Laboratory in Aberdeen. He has particular interests in scampi, and other shellfish fisheries, having been heavily involved in scampi assessment within the ICES system, and leading scampi research, survey and assessment activities for NIWA. He also has research experience investigating the effects of fishing on the seabed, and ecosystem indicators, and currently leads research in these areas. He has worked at NIWA since 2006, is a Principal Scientist in the Fisheries Centre, and leads the Fisheries Environmental Impacts Programme. Ian holds a co-appointment in the NIWA/Joint Graduate School in Coastal and Marine Science (1 day a week), through the Department of Statistics.