Lydia Smith has >35 years experience in applied farmer-facing work, especially in novel and under-utilised crops, their impact on soil health and on microbial interactions. She joined Niab in 1997 and drove expansion of research across Niab. She established the Novel and Non-Food Crops area. She has a BSc in Botany, an MSc in crop Protection and a PhD that focused on Mycrorrhizal interactions. Lydia leads soil, microbial and sustainable farmer-facing research projects at NIAB.