Having a background in biochemistry (MSc London) and fine art (MFA Edinburgh) it was an obvious choice for Hamer to research into the visual culture of science at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, an institution renowned for interdisciplinary research.

He has exhibited in England, Scotland and the United States, been Artist in Residence for the Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Edinburgh, a University of Edinburgh Research Explorer, artist and scientist on expeditions to Belize and is currently an artist in residence at the University of Dundee Botanical Garden.