Frances Gillespie lived in Qatar for thirty years teaching English to Qatari student, working as a freelance writer and learning about the natural history and archaeology of the country. As a committee member of the Qatar Natural History Group she has spent many years leading excursions up and down the peninsular helping others, especially newcomers, appreciate the many places of interest. In 1999-2000 she coordinated the Qatar Archaeology Project, a joint Qatari - British initiative, and began working with other writers on books about Qatar. A regular contributor to one of Qatar's daily English newspapers for twenty years, since 2006 she has published more than a dozen books on Qatar and Arabia, in both English readers to Qatar's archaeology entitled Hidden in the Sands: Uncovering Qatar's Past, and, most recently, Jewels from the Sea, a history of pearl fishing in the Arabian Gulf.