My passion for wildlife began early. I used to smuggle roadkill into the house despite my mother’s preference for flowers. This interest in the natural world started with pond-dipping then evolved until I bagged a zoology degree from Plymouth where I also indulged in various water sports. I then organised an overland trip to Nepal. That first expedition provided my first astonishing glimpses of sub-tropical wildlife and stimulated an enthusiasm to share the wonders of the natural world with others.

I also developed a particular loathing for leeches and parasites, and ultimately this pushed me towards becoming medically qualified. My language forays have made me privy to a wealth of fascinating cultural material some of which appears in my writing particularly on Nepal. These days I work as a general practitioner in East Anglia and also in a Travel Clinic see www.travelcliniccambridge.co.uk

Dr Jane Wilson BSc (hons), MSc (Oxon), BM, DCH, DCCH, DFSRH, FRSTM&H, MFTM RCPS (Glasg)

“I have worked as a clinician and health advisor in remote regions for 11 years. On many trips into usually inaccessible, orthodox communities, I have been treated as an ‘honorary man’. My male hosts think I am being paid a compliment, and the celebrity treatment certainly facilitates my work: I am regarded as having an intellect almost equalling a man yet I am allowed to talk to their women even if they are kept in purdah.” How to Shit Around the World page xiii

I continue to practise medicine under my maiden name, but since there are so many Dr J Wilsons in the world I decided to write under my more distinguished married name.

What the letters after my name mean