Initially, Alison completed her undergraduate degree in Linguistics before deciding that she really wanted to be a veterinary nurse, which was a pathway she had been discouraged from taking at school. She was lucky enough to join a very supportive, progressive small animal veterinary practice in 1998 as a nursing assistant, trained and qualified as an RVN then progressed through mixed and charity clinical practice. Alison then locumed at the RVC in early 2009 and then relocated from Lancashire to join the teaching team later that year as an Assistant Lecturer in Veterinary Clinical Skills.  During her many years at the RVC she was able to study for her Post Graduate Certificate, Diploma and Master’s degree in Veterinary Education whilst also developing and indulging her passion for teaching about the care of rabbits, wildlife and exotics.

In early 2021, she joined the joint partnership Veterinary Nursing degree between Middlesex University and the College of Animal Welfare as an online lecturer and Module Leader, teaching and supporting all years of BScVN and Top-Up undergraduates. At both institutions, she was heavily involved in formative and summative assessment design and it is something that she really enjoys. Alison was also an internal moderator for all written and practical summative assessments as well as a developer, moderator and examiner for formative and summative OSCEs, and Directly Observed Procedures.

In January 2025, she began working for herself as a freelance content developer and moderator, and is currently writing a rabbit course which she hopes to publish shortly. She is also currently involved in two projects, one of which is exploring mental health in the veterinary nursing community, and she is one of four RVN panel members on the RCVS Ethics Review Panel, which I really enjoy.  If that wasn’t enough, Alison is also a volunteer Veterinary Liaison Officer for the Bedlington Terrier Rescue Foundation!

Outside of work, Alison enjoys cold water (and warm pool) swimming, gardening and stained glass crafting. She lives in a woodland in mid-Wales with her husband, three cats and a very large, diverse attachment of birds and wildlife.