Richard apprenticed as a dairy herdsman, milking 350 Ayrshire cattle in Suffolk in 1978, afterwards working in an intensive 600+ Holstein system in Northern Israel for a year, until forced to return by the outbreak of the Lebanese conflict in 1981. During that time, in the diverse climatic Mediterranean region, Richard gravitated towards horticulture, and went on to apprentice as a trainee plantsman at the MacMillan Estate in Renfrewshire. After completing a Diploma in Amenity Horticulture with Credit in 1986, Richard managed a horticultural therapy unit for Tendring District MIND until 1993, when he won a University Scholarship to study Botany at Aberystwyth.Richard graduated with a 1st in 1997, and immediately joined ITE - the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology (now the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – CEH) as a Botanist for the Countryside Survey. In 1998, he returned to Aberystwyth to study for a Doctorate in Witches’ Broom Disease of Cocoa.Post-Doctorate, Richard worked as a consultant in mycology & botany on projects across the UK, particularly in Northern Ireland after the signing of the Good Friday agreement in 1998. Richard undertook a botanical survey of the whole of the six provinces between 1998 and 2002. He was employed as a Senior Ecologist at Richards, Moorehead & Laing in Ruthin from 2004 until 2007, when he went on to be Principal Ecologist at Capita until 2018.Richard now works as a Principal Ecologist at Ecoscope Ltd in North Wales, where his particular interests find a more productive outlet within the normal requirements of ecological consultancy. Although botany is still a major interest, he has extended his range to include geological conservation, aquatic and marine invertebrates, environmental policy in Britain and overseas and palaeontological research.Richard has been an active STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) Ambassador since 2015, and is particularly committed to vocational education. Formerly a member of the Advisory panel for the Chartered Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management (CIEEM), he now sits as a member of the Wales Policy Group, scrutinizing procedure and environmental legislation from the Senedd. He became a Chartered Ecologist in 2016. He regularly publishes in regional publications on topics as diverse as wild plants, horticulture and geology, and is the author of papers on the Cambrian fossil faunas of North Wales.