Simon is currently a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Technology at Harper Adams University where his research investigates different aspects of soil function and soil health. His background is as a soil microbial ecologist with a main interest is ecosystem functioning and in particular how soil organisms function to drive soil processes. His work has been focused on understanding such processes with the aim of harnessing them to increase the sustainability use of our soils.

Simon has previously worked in Italy, providing scientific policy support to the European Commission at the Joint Research Centre where he published the first European Atlas of Soil Biodiversity. Following that he worked as a research scientist at Wageningen University, Netherlands a world leading institution in the field of life sciences and soils research. There he managed a range of experiments aimed at elucidating the mechanisms underlying the observed effects of biochar application to soil and the impacts on soil health and soil function.