Alistair became Director of SCIAF after five years as Humanitarian Director for Caritas Internationalis, and more recently as interim Director of The Sphere Project, which sets international standards for humanitarian aid. An engineer, Alistair studied physics at the University of Durham, and philosophy, politics and economics at the University of Oxford. Alistair has worked in the international relief and development sector for over twenty years, during which time he has led several major humanitarian responses and worked in more than forty countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Alistair entered the sector when, as a Jesuit novice working for the Jesuit Refugee Service, he was seconded to Caritas Nepal.