Nick qualified as a veterinary surgeon from the University of Cambridge in 2005 having gained a MA in Pathology (Immunology) in 2002. After Cambridge he went to University College Dublin to complete an internship in large animal medicine leading to a residency programme in dairy cow health and production split between the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and Shepton Vet Group, a specialist dairy practice in rural Somerset, UK. During his residency he did externships at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the University of California - Davis to gain additional experience of managing the health of large dairy herds. After a year in farm animal practice in Hampshire, he returned to the RVC to do an MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology in 2010. Thereafter he did a PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Kenya focussing on the field evaluation of vaccines and economic impact. During this time he passed his examinations to become a diplomat of the European College of Bovine Health Management (ECBHM).

His current research interests include novel surveillance methods, the field evaluation of disease interventions (including vaccination), and the economic impact of livestock diseases. The focus of this work is working in endemic settings and utilising field data. He is intersted in all infectious livestock diseases, mainly working with FMD but also involved with projects on Lumpy Skin Disease, Peste des Petits Ruminants, Sheep and Goat Pox, and Crimean-Congo Haemmorhagic Fever. In addition to his role at The Pirbright Institute, he spends part of his time working as a veterinary epidemiologist for the European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (EuFMD) at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) where he is currently based. Through research projects and EuFMD activites, Nick has active connections in many countires throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia.