Pyne's historical methodologies were made possible by her attending a taught course at Queen Mary & Westfield College, London, where she read Modern History, under the tutelage of Peter Hennessy and his team.

At the time of her death she was close to completing her PhD on the UK's first hydrogen weapons at King's College London under the supervision of Professor Mike Goodman.

[3][failed verification] After graduation in 1994, Pyne became Research Assistant to Lorna Arnold, Historian at the Atomic Energy Authority, Harwell, who was writing the official history of the British hydrogen bomb.

When that job finished in 1996, she was offered a post at AWE, Aldermaston, what some wag called 'the jam factory' - in honour of one of the contractor firms that built the place – going under the name of 'Chivers'.

Pyne played a similar role in developing and sustaining the annual Charterhouse Conferences organized by Nicholas Hill and Lesley and Dave Wright for many years.