Richard is a soil ecologist whose work explores how soils and their biodiversity regulate the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems and their response to global change. Most of his work is focussed on grasslands, where he has recently been exploring how soil microbial communities and the biogeochemical cycles they regulate respond to and recover from climate extremes. Richard's work has led to foundational insights, but also the practical implementation of below-ground ecological concepts for climate mitigation and grassland restoration. He has written several books on soils and their ecology, including his most recent book: “The Ecology of Soil: From Communities to Ecosystems” (2025).
Richard has spent most of his career in the north of England, where he was brought up. He gained his first degree from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and a PhD from Lancaster University . After a long period working at The University of Manchester, he recently returned to Lancaster to establish the Centre for Sustainable Soils. He co-founded the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI) in 2011 and is a past President of the British Ecological Society and long serving Editor of Journal of Ecology. In 2023 he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to soil ecology and climate change science.
