She has a BSc in chemistry and geography from UCT, and was the first woman to graduate with MSc(Agric) in South Africa.
She could not find a job in the SA wine industry back then (she was far too English) so worked in analytical chemistry at UCT for 6 years, running the ICP and HPLC services. Marriage took her to the UK where she worked as an operations manager in clinical trials and validation services for pharmaceutical companies, but was very happy to kick in the corporate life and return to oenology as a lecturer at Plumpton College, Brighton in 2000.
She came back to SA in 2007 and has been at Stellenbosch University since then. Her research has taken her into some varied territory, from volatile phenols, smoke and related taints (burnt rubber) to engaged learning methodologies and sensory evaluation. Her T&L research now has a strong focus in work-integrated learning and transformation in science. She won the national South African Council for Higher Education Excellence in Teaching Award in 2015, and is a Distinguished Teacher (2017), and current Teaching Fellow at Stellenbosch University.