Richard Mott

Dr Richard Mott is a Senior Scientific Officer at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Co-Centre for Climate + Biodiversity + Water, where he works on modelling the economic impacts of policy-induced land use transformation on the agri-food sector.

Richard’s academic pathway stems from an earlier professional career training and competing horses. He earned a BA (Hons) in Equine Studies from Coventry University followed by an MSc in Equine Science from the University of Edinburgh, before taking up a lectureship in Equine Science at Warwickshire College.

He then broadened his research across species, completing a PhD in dog behaviour at the University of Glasgow and subsequently holding a research fellowship in pig welfare at the University of Leeds.

In 2024, Richard joined AFBI as part of the farm animal welfare team. His research focuses on quantifying and improving animal welfare, and he brings this multidisciplinary expertise to current discussions on land use transformation and its implications for the land-based agri-food sector.