Ross Burns is currently embarking on a Ph D in urban landscapes in the Roman Near East at Macquarie University in Sydney but has a number of other projects in his sights intended to make more accessible to a wider audience the often-little understood 'ins and outs' of Syria's past. While keeping in touch with the immense amount of material flowing from the researches of Syrian and foreign teams is in itself almost a full-time occupation, the author hopes to give the wider public a chance to look more closely into other forgotten corners of Syria's past. He also lectures both to specialist and generalist audiences and has contributed to academic publications.