From 1978–79 he spent a year as an exchange student at Edinburgh University, Scotland, where he participated in his first field trips, excavating Mesolithic and Neolithic bog sites in Offaly and Mayo counties, Ireland, and at a Bronze Age henge near Strathallan, Scotland.
Strathallan School, an independent boarding and day school, was originally located in Bridge of Allan but relocated away from the area to Forgandenny, Perth in 1920.