Mike Williams (1959 to one day when he's not looking) was born in the town of Market Harborough and due to a mix up with a local fortune teller was photographed for much of his first year in a dress. After moving to the Derbyshire Dales to escape the shame, he took to farming like a duck to liver pate and for many years seemed perpetually doused in manure, mostly from slipping on the cobbles or walking too near the cows at milking time. Educated at Buxton College, Chesterfield Art College and Trent Polytechnic, he threw away the wellington boots for a briefcase, was awarded a doctorate in 1986 and since then has lectured and published widely in plant physiology. He can be found waxing lyrical to students on the intimate contents of a leaf at Trinity College, Dublin or picking terrible fantasy football teams in his local pub 'The Villager' in Chapelizod. He is single with a cat, and a big one at that.