Rachel contributes actively to the scientific community by regularly presenting at international conferences, participating in expert workshops and acting as reviewer for international peer-reviewed journals. She has participated in OECD Expert Working Groups and Validation Management Groups and has been Water Framework Directive UK Lead for EU Intercalibration of Invertebrate Monitoring Tools and Programme lead for Environment Agency Endocrine Disruption Research.

Rachel holds a BSc (Hons; 1) in Environmental Science from Leicester University and an MSc in Ecotoxicology of Natural Populations (Dist.) from Reading University. She was awarded a doctoral degree from Brunel University for her PhD thesis titled "Potential for (neuro-) endocrine effects of oestrogens in freshwater gastropods" . Prior to joining Fera in 2013, she worked for CEFAS and the Science Department of the Environment Agency.

Rachel has also been UKAS Technical Manager, GLP Study Director and has over 15 years experience of conducting and overseeing aquatic studies to OECD Guidelines under her belt and has extensive experience in Chemical Risk Assessment for Regulations, Whole Effluent Assessment, Endocrine Disruption in Aquatic Wildlife, Water Framework Directive, Environmental Impact Assessments.

Rachel has extensive career experience in the biological assessment of loetic and lentic communities, initially practicing Environmental Impact Assessment and Water Quality Monitoring within the Water Industry, and then later as a Biologist for UK Environment Agency. In the latter role, she was UK lead for the development of invertebrate assessment tools for the Water Framework Directive (WFD), specifically the adoption of the Whalley Hawkes Paisley Trigg (WHPT) Index. She was also UK Representative for the WFD European Intercalibration Exercise for invertebrate assessment tools for both rivers and lakes, and moreover managed and participated in projects for WFD UK Technical Advisory Group on macrophyte and diatom assessment. This work was in addition to her role as manager of the Environment Agency Ecotoxicology Service Laboratory. Her current post at Fera as Senior Aquatic Ecotoxicologist combines her key skills in multi-species ecotoxicology testing and stream ecological assessment for the design of mesocosm scale experimentation.