James is a physicist-turned-mathematician with an interest in modelling metal metabolism in yeast. He is also working on developing mathematical methods for making more robust predictions from experimental data.

James completed his PhD and first postdoc under the supervision of Prof. Warwick Bowen (The University of Queensland), working on using the interplay between light and motion to probe quantum mechanics and detect weak magnetic fields for navigation, communications, and imaging. He then moved to a teaching-focused appointment at Griffith University before joining the Queensland University of Technology node of MACSYS under Prof. Mat Simpson.