She was born in Hertfordshire and worked in the antique trade, as a zoological research assistant in Africa and latterly after children, in the voluntary sector with the Citizens Advice Bureau, Victim Support and National Federation of Women's Institutes.

She was a councillor on Cherwell District and Oxfordshire County Councils and parliamentary candidate for Banbury in 1997 and Henley in 2001.

She is President of the Green Liberal Democrats and has a special interest in biodiversity protection and fighting human trafficking.

She is married to Simon, Emeritus professor at Brookes University, a primatologist specialising in nocturnal monkeys. They have three sons.

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