Meet The Team

David joined both RASE and IfA as CEO in Autumn 2022. David has had a broad career across a variety of sectors.  For several years, he worked for large corporations, such as Bass, Coca-Cola, BBC, and Bupa covering strategy, marketing, brand and communications roles.  Following this, David spent a number of years in consultancy working with charities such as Sue Ryder, Nuffield Health and Self Management UK.
More recently, David was CEO at Housing Partners, an organisation which supports the social housing sector before moving on to work as a Partner in a fresh food wholesale business which operated across the UK providing dairy, meat & poultry, and fresh produce to care homes, schools and hospitality.

Name? Emily Stillwell

Role at Innovation for Agriculture? PA to Chief Executive Officer

Describe yourself in 5 words? Kind, Curious, Diplomatic, Loyal, Funny.

Specialist Interest? Culinary Arts

What got you involved in Agriculture?

Through my role at the Royal Agricultural Society of England I’ve been privileged to be part of IfA since it was a seedling.

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

One kind word can change someone’s entire day…

When you’re not working for IfA you can be found? 

In the kitchen or leafing through my lovely cookbooks.

Name? Evi Arachoviti

Role at Innovation for Agriculture? Head of Policy and Social

Describe yourself in 5 words?

Adaptable, enthusiastic, responsible, experienced, empathetic

Specialist Interest?

Exploring societal issues and their associated challenges surrounding rural development, in relation to policy making.

What got you involved in Agriculture?

My studies in Agricultural University of Athens

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

Appreciate beauty

When you’re not working for IfA you can be found….

Writing in my book who I meet and where I'm going!

Before joining IfA, Evi was Head of 'Quality of Life in Rural Areas and Diversification of Rural Economy', in the Managing Authority of the Greek Ministry of Rural Development & Food. She also draws experience and expertise from being a Researcher in the Standardisation, Inspection and Certification Authority of Greek Agriculture.

Stephen is farmer and has provided farm business consultancy throughout the UK and internationally for over 20 years ; He is head of technical development at Innovation for Agriculture, Director of AbacusAgri & a Non Exec Director of the Agriculture Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). He has previously worked for DFID, FAO, the World Bank & multiple private Co’s in Africa, India & China.  

Stephen has an MSc in Soil Science with experience in soil and water management combining research, development, farmer engagement & training, consultancy, policy development work and practical farming.  

Stephen is a Nuffield Farming Scholar and was awarded the prestigious Bullock Award in 2020 as the Scholar who has most influenced the Agricultural industry in the 10 years since his scholarship.  At home, Stephen farms in Cambridgeshire & in Rutland growing crops and with the UK’s largest agroforestry system – 3D farming and a perfect example of ecological intensification. 

Name? Holly Shearman                              

Role at Innovation for Agriculture? Head of Livestock

Specialist interest? Passionate about sustainable, high health & welfare livestock production, helping farmers on the net zero journey and educating the public on the importance of locally produced, high welfare food.   

What got you involved in Agriculture? I was very lucky to grow up on my family livestock farm and was outside helping with the animals from as young as I can remember, so have always had a passion for the industry and the challenges that farmers face every day!

Best piece of advice you were ever given? If you don’t try you will never know, and every day is a school day!

When you’re not working for IfA we can find you..... Out on the farm, usually doing something involving sheep! Spending time with my young family, walking the dogs, or riding a horse!

Holly grew up on a mixed livestock farm in South-East England, her background is in project managing livestock disease eradication programmes, helping farmers engage with vets and industry to improve the health and welfare of their livestock and ultimately the efficiency and sustainability of their businesses; she is also a Registered Animal Medicines Adviser (RAMA) and feed adviser.  In her spare time, she helps run her family farm, and manages their flock of sheep with her partner. She is passionate about helping farmers farm in a sustainable way, the benefits that this can bring to their businesses and in educating the general public on where their food comes from and the importance of supporting our farmers by buying locally produced, high welfare produce.

Name? Deborah Crossan

Role at Innovation for Agriculture? Soil and Water Manager 

Describe yourself in 5 words? Always planning; project or meal..!

Specialist Interest?

Sustainable Agriculture and Food

What got you involved in Agriculture?

YFC and loving sheep ...

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

Don’t want what everyone else wants ...it will always be too expensive !

When you’re not working for IfA you can be found….

Out walking with an embarrassing terrier.

Mainly focusing on the restoration of UK soils, Deborah's work includes running workshops, discussions and study tours of UK agricultural holdings and concentrates on Knowledge exchange and peer to peer learning. Deborah also coordinates the soil team’s portfolio of EU projects.

Name? Manpreet Kaur

Role at Innovation for Agriculture? Finance & EU Coordinator

Describe yourself in 5 words? Motivated, Conscientious, Efficient, Persistent, Positive 

Specialist Interest? Baking 

What got you involved in Agriculture? 

My role at IFA 

Best piece of advice you were ever given? 

If you are going to rise, you might as well shine 

When you’re not working for IfA you can be found…. 

In the park or garden 

Role at Innovation for Agriculture?

Fundraising Manager.

Describe yourself in 5 words?

Positive, creative, tenacious, perceptive, cheerful.

Specialist interest?

Climate change mitigation.

What got you involved in agriculture?

I grew up in Yorkshire and am passionate about the countryside and nature.

Although my family aren’t now involved in agriculture, I have a long Lincolnshire farming lineage!

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

Stay curious!

When you’re not working for IfA you can be found….

Doing amdram and singing or enjoying the north Norfolk and Yorkshire coasts.

Deborah graduated from the University of Warwick with a BA followed by a postgraduate marketing diploma and an MBA. She worked in marketing for many years, mainly in the education sector, before moving into charity fundraising where she has gained experience across a wide range of organisations. At IfA, Deborah is focused on raising core funding together with project grants to support knowledge exchange events and feels privileged to be playing a small part in supporting farmers to adapt to and mitigate against the major challenges they face today.

Name? Richard Lloyd

Role at Innovation for Agriculture? Precision Livestock Manager

Describe yourself in 5 words? Personable, enthusiastic, visionary, practical, bald

Specialist Interest?

Efficient, welfare friendly livestock farms

What got you involved in Agriculture?

Born on a dairy farm

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

Trust your instinct

When you’re not working for IfA you can be found….

Drinking wine, or watching Wales play rugby

Richard's work focuses on facilitating the correct uptake of SMART farming techniques on livestock farms. Having a lifetime’s background in UK dairy farming and genetics, he coordinated the successful Horizon 2020 thematic network 4D4f (Data Driven Dairy Decisions for Farmers).

Role at Innovation for Agriculture? 

Natural Resources Advisor  

Specialist Interest? 

Soil, soil carbon and ecosystem services. 

What got you involved in Agriculture? 

My childhood, sneaking around the haybales and the solution to many of the world’s issues. 

Best piece of advice you were ever given? 

If you dig a hole, get on the ground and use your senses, you can find an entire part of the biosphere you may have never explored before.

When you’re not working for IfA you can be found…. 

Up a tree, on a cliff or in the water. If not, probably in a hole somewhere, exploring with my silly eared dog. 

Although academia took Arran halfway across the globe to focus on tropical soils, this experience ignited an ambition to focus on the biosphere beneath our feet at home in the UK. With an MSc in Environmental Soil Science Arran gained experience in crop research with ADAS, nutrient management and environmental policy at Veolia and now regenerative agriculture at IfA. Determined to support industry change towards sustainable agriculture, Arran hopes to help farmers with the engagement and knowledge exchange needed to break down the barriers between conventional farming and the farm of the future.  

Name?

Natasha Smith

Role at Innovation for Agriculture?

Communications

Specialist interest?

Regenerative agriculture

What got you involved in Agriculture?

Concern about the environment and climate change, which quickly became being fascinated by how farming holds so many of the solutions to global challenges

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

Dance like nobody’s watching

When you’re not working for IfA we can find you.....

Out walking, wild swimming or morris dancing

Tash is responsible for sharing updates on IfA projects and activities via our newsletter and social media. She has an MSc in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security and joins the team with four years’ experience working in agricultural communications and PR.

Name? Mehdi Raza

Role at Innovation for Agriculture?  Interim Finance & EU Coordinator

Specialist Interest? Exploring methods to simplify tasks and conducting numerical analysis to enhance productivity.

What got you involved in Agriculture? I find the Finance & EU Coordinator role intriguing as it allows me to be actively involved in bridging the gap between finance and projects, providing valuable data and Figures to support project leads.

Best piece of advice you were ever given? Embrace failure as a valuable learning opportunity. Failure is not something to be feared or avoided, but rather a steppingstone on the path to success.

When you’re not working for IfA you can be found? Socially active and cricket.

Name?

Megan Dunn

Role at Innovation for Agriculture?

Soils and natural resources assistant

Specialist interest?

Permaculture design, and the relationships between ecosystems, society and food production

What got you involved in Agriculture?

Volunteering on farms, market gardens and conservation projects across the UK, seeing how agriculture can be a practical solution to so many social and environmental issues

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

Take half a step back

When you’re not working for IfA we can find you…

Out for a walk or at the beach

Megan has recently completed a masters in Sustainable Crop Production following a year of volunteering on farms in the UK and Spain. For her undergraduate degree she studied International Development and the Environment which introduced her to many of the challenges we face in the 21^st century, and overtime she felt that these linked more and more to our food system and how we look after our land, people and biodiversity. She is also completing a permaculture design course to learn about more creative and holistic approaches to problem solving.

Name?

Catherine Carlton

Role at Innovation for Agriculture?

Livestock project assistant

Specialist interest?

Keen interest in livestock and getting farmers on board with regenerative practices, making them accessible and as easy to achieve as possible.

What got you involved in agriculture?

Always loved being in the countryside and knew I wanted to work with animals, so it fitted together quite nicely.

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

“Don’t take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from.”

When you’re not working for IfA we can find you.....?

In the calf pens or out riding!

Catherine earned her degree at Northampton University and has built a diverse career within the farming industry. She has worked in multiple areas, including retail at an agricultural merchant and eight years working with a farm animal veterinary practice. During her time there, she contributed both in the office and out on farm, gaining hands-on experience with TB testing.

Name? 

Iory Hughes

Role?

Livestock projects assistant

Specialist interest?

Observing methods to reduce methane output from ruminants and utilising innovative technology on farm 

What got you interested in agriculture?

Growing up around beef and sheep production in mid-Wales. 

Best piece of advice you were ever given?

Trust the process. 

When you’re not working for IfA we can find you.....?

Playing rugby or singing with my band.

Iory graduated from Harper Adams University with a degree in Agriculture with Animal Science with a dissertation exploring the potential of feeds to reduce methane emissions from dairy cattle. He has worked with a variety of farms covering beef, sheep and dairy production as well as cereal and potato enterprises. After university Iory spent a year in New Zealand working on a high-country station and a sheep dairy unit.

Lisa is a veterinarian, trained facilitator and participatory action researcher with interests in Just Transitions in animal agriculture, Farm Animal Health & Welfare, Medicine stewardship and Technology use.

Lisa leads several modules on livestock and is the programme leader for the Graduate Diploma in Agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University.

Lisa is currently involved in various research projects ranging from Innovate UK funded industry collaborations on composting dairy farm waste and exploring waste water filtration solutions, to co-designing livestock breeding strategies that contribute to Net Zero targets but are also ethical, practical and economic for farmers to implement. Lisa is also a work package leader in a Horizon Europe funded project called BroilerNet, which aims to improve the sustainability of the chicken meat sector across Europe through collaborative and facilitated innovation networks. Lisa is a firm believer in farmer-led innovation to tackle the challenges facing our food system and is leading a training & support programme for researchers to improve capacity & confidence in participatory approaches in agricultural research.

See https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022030220309735

Recent work includes leading the qualitative investigation of UK farmers’ perceptions of cultured meat for the Cultured Meat & Farmers project, which ended in 2024. Lisa has also worked on mapping evidence around co-production techniques in food systems transformation as well as co-founding a Transdisciplinary Network on tackling Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food System (AMAST) funded by the BBSRC.

Across the petrochemical and food industry sectors, supply chain leadership has always been at the heart of Roly’s expertise ; whether strategic or tactical planning, procurement, or the physical execution of the operation.

Roly was Vice President of the Agri-food contract logistics business and sat on the UK Transport Board of Deutsche Post DHL until his retirement in 2015. Working with academic and industry experts, Roly identified a significant opportunity to improve service, operating standards and efficiency in the movement of produce from growers to primary food manufacturing processors.  By applying best supply chain practice from other industry sectors, he created unique business models that unlock tangible value for food producers and manufacturers.

In retirement Roly worked with Cranfield University as an assessor and on a pan-European supply chain project called SCALE looking into the creation of the “Triple Bottom Line” for the food sector. Since then, he has held the position of interim COO with RASE and IfA before joining the IfA team as a Trustee in 2024. In his spare time, Roly enjoys walking, being a grandparent and playing the cello. Roly is married and lives in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

Robert is a solicitor based in Bristol who has spent his professional life focussed on the property aspects of the rural economy, having been a partner initially in Osborne Clarke and then latterly in Womble Bond Dickinson. He is now a consultant with the firm. 

He has been a trustee of Innovation for Agriculture since its formation in 2013.  Having started stewarding at the Royal Bath & West Show in 1978 he served on the Board of the Royal Bath & West of England Society for many years before stepping down in 2022 after nearly 10 years as Chairman.  He is also a Trustee of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth and trustee of a number of other charities based in the South West.

He is currently High Sheriff of Somerset and a Deputy Lieutenant of the county.

I farm in a family partnership with my wife, Carol and son, Craig in South Cumbria between the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District National Park

Carol and I originally came to the 90 acre farm as tenants in 1981.  Subsequently more land was put to the farm by the landlord and eventually we bought the farm (totalling 330 acres) in 2001.  All of this land is classed as Severely Disadvantaged Land.

We currently milk 120 red and white dairy cows, with 60 followers and lamb 150 sheep.  Definitely no arable here!  We currently have 100 acres in Higher Tier Stewardship growing trees.

I have been involved with the Westmorland County Agricultural Society for 40 plus years.  I became involved with IFA at its inception just before I took on the Chair of the Society in 2013.  I am currently one of the Trustees of the Society and a member of the Board of Directors.  I also hold the position of Chief Cattle Steward and Chair of our Rural Links Committee.

On a more local note.  I was chair of the Parish Meeting for 17 years.  Have been involved with our own Grayrigg Show since moving to the farm  - served a term as Chairman and currently I am President Elect