Sheila trained as a zoologist and veterinary scientist and spent most of her academic career at the University of Bristol where she was Professor of Comparative Ophthalmology. She is a Fellow and Past-President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and her scientific expertise encompasses comparative medicine, particularly zoonotic disease, as well as ethics and animal welfare. Sheila is increasingly preoccupied with the environmental complexities and moral consequences of the Anthropocene Epoch.