I’m an investigator and writer.

I excavate facts and tell stories. My productions include articles (media and academic), books, research briefs and forensic art. I have fifteen years of experience encompassing development of investigation strategies, fieldwork, research management and data analysis. I have put these activities to use in complex international legal cases relating to human rights abuses, criminal defence and asylum/extradition, as well as in other contexts such as university courses. I offer consultancy for legal teams, NGOs and other entities with particular research requirements.  I sometimes give lectures, seminars or trainings on various aspects of my practice.

These days people talk a lot about #OSINT or Open Source Intelligence. I've been OSINTing since 2009 and I've watched with interest as it’s developed into an increasingly professionalised ecosystem of tools and practitioners. Like many disciplines OSINT entails specific and sometimes fragmented skill sets. I do stuff with SQL, Open Refine, Maltego and bits of Python, for example. But my fundamental philosophy of OSINT is that it's about innovative problem solving: finding answers in unexpected places when the balance of power is stacked against you.

My work has been exhibited at the Imperial War Museum (London), the International Center of Photography (New York), the Kunsthalle (Hamburg), Zephyr (Mannheim) and diverse other locations.

I have a degree in English and Classics from the University of Oxford and a doctorate in medieval/Renaissance philosophy from the Warburg Institute, London. I was formerly a postdoctoral Humboldt Fellow at the Freie Universitaet, Berlin, a sessional lecturer in Magic, Science and Religion at Birkbeck, University of London, and a cataloguer for Simon Finch Rare Books.

Since 2013 I have studied White Crane Kung Fu, a traditional southern Chinese martial art originating in Fujian province in the seventeenth century and evolving via Singapore following the upheavals in China in the first half of the twentieth century after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. I am a qualified instructor in the Fujian White Crane Kung Fu Club, under the tutelage of Dennis and Sharon Ngo. I competed in the 2019 International Wuzuquan and South Shaolin Traditional Martial Arts Competition in Quanzhou, Fujian Province, China. In November 2021 I was awarded the grade of 2nd Dan by the Chinese Wushu Sports Association. My focus on the history, theory and practice of traditional Chinese martial arts is an integral component of my other professional practice.