She gained her Ph.D. in logistics from Plymouth University in 1987. Since then she has lectured, researched and published in the field of both passenger and freight transport policy and the environment around the world, including Egypt and Hong Kong. She is particularly interested in the behavioural aspects of freight transport and the cross-over between passenger and freight transport which underpins some of her work in the sustainability of e-commerce. She played a key role in the Green Logistics project at Heriot-Watt University. She is currently working on reverse logistics associated with online shopping.