[citation needed] He took a year out working as a teacher for Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) in Kenema in Sierra Leone.
[citation needed] He received a PhD in 1968 from the University of Bristol for research on sexual reproduction in the Mucorales.
[3] His research focused on the fungal cell wall, in particular to the biochemistry and physiology of chitin biosynthesis and degradation.
Among the most significant are: He was the first recipient of the Fleming Prize Lecture award from the (then) Society of General Microbiology in 1976, made to early career researchers who had produced significant work within 12 years of gaining their doctoral degree.
His proposers were John M. Kosterlitz, J H Burnett, J E Fothergill, James Mackay Shewan, C H Gimmingham, F W Robertson, George Dunnet and Patrick Thomas Grant.