Dr Lydia Smith; Director of NIAB Innovation Farm & Eastern Agritech Innovation Hub

Lydia leads Interactive farmer-facing research into sustainable farming; especially soil health, crop genetic improvement and waste minimisation. Soil-crop microbial interactions are a particular focus, particularly mycorrhizal associations. She has lectured in soil science, crop microbial interactions, environmental biology/land reclamation at University of East London and Luton, before moving to NIAB. At NIAB-Innovation Farm, interactive demonstrations promote knowledge exchange and innovation uptake, and at the EAI Hub there is incubation and research resource provision for SMEs and academics, with an additional focus on sustainable use of heat and power to drive innovation.