Joe was born in Cambridge and has lived and worked in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire for many years. His professional experience includes research and development with British Aerospace, followed by a career in public services. He has served as head of a Cambridgeshire community college, as a local authority director of education, and as a director of a national children’s charity.

He is passionate about serving local communities and has several years’ experience at board level, including time as a trustee for the Papworth Trust, as a member of the professional standards committee for the Royal Society of Chemistry, and as a governor at West Suffolk Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

He has a PhD in physical chemistry (researching air entrainment), and has a particular interest in infection, prevention and control, air pollution, and the impact of airborne particles on health.