Richard is a postharvest physiologist/pathologist who has worked at the Produce Quality Centre, NRI, University of Greenwich since 2010. He previously worked at East-Malling Research  for 16 years. He studied the control of ethylene biosynthesis and identified genes orchestrating ripening in apple for his PhD and characterised a number of novel inhibitors of ethylene biosynthesis. An extension to this work resulted in developing a number of genetic markers for use in marker assisted selection of new apple varieties with improved texture and eating quality. Subsequently Richard studied the use of ethylene as a sprout suppressant in potatoes.  Recent work has focused on a technology to optimise low oxygen storage of apples (SafePod),  isolating volatile signatures of diseased apple as a means of real-time monitoring of disease development in stored apples, and novel in-field cooling rigs to cool soft-fruit immediately after harvest allowing greater flexibility in cool-chain management.