Our Senior team

Chief Executive: Adrian Belton

Responsible for Fera's strategic direction and performance, and Accounting Officer

Adrian joined the former CSL as Chief Executive in March 2008 to lead the four-way merger programme to form Fera. Previous senior executive roles were leading the merger programme to form Natural England, modernising service delivery in Local Government, and introducing new governance to support the conversion and flotation of the Bradford & Bingley Group. Prior to these roles, his career was with the Barclays Group, leading business units and group functions. With a keen personal interest in the environment, Adrian also Chairs, in a non-executive capacity, the Board of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). He is also a member of the Yorkshire Innovation Council, and a member of the Board of the Association of Chief Executives (ACE).

Chief Scientist: Professor Robert Edwards

Responsible for science strategy

Robert was previously Head of the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences and co-Director of the Centre for Bioactive Chemistry at Durham University. A plant health biochemist with 25 years experience working in and with the international chemical industry, Robert's research interests include metabolite profiling, pesticide metabolism in plants, plant/stress interactions and bio-refining. In addition to his role as Chief Scientist at Fera, he maintains his current research interests in counteracting herbicide resistance in weeds, wheat biotechnology and bio-refining through a Chair position in Crop Protection in the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, Department of Biology, University of York.

Director of External Affairs: Dr. R. Angus Hearmon

Responsible for communications, business development and marketing

Angus joined Fera from the Department for Work and Pensions, where he was leading the work to create customer focus in their Application Delivery Centre. Prior to that he was Head of IS Strategy and Architecture in the Pensions Service. With a PhD in chemistry, his career has been with ICI where he worked in nuclear magnetic resonance and scientific IT, and Atos Origin, the IS consultancy, where he delivered business consultancy to the Life Science and Process industries.

Director of Operations: Mike Wray

Responsible for leading the development and delivery of the Agency's science programmes

Mike previously lead the Plant Variety Rights Office and Seeds Division (PVS), which was one of the Divisions of Defra that merged to form Fera. Prior to joining Defra in 2000, Mike headed a department and led on international development at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB). Mike graduated in Agricultural Science from Nottingham University.

Director of Finance and Corporate Services: Paul Whitfield

Responsible for finance, HR, contracts, procurement and estate services

Paul's previous roles include divisional Finance Director at Northern Foods PLC and Chief Finance Officer at Express Dairies PLC. More recently he was Corporate Finance Director at the National Express Group, where he also led their subsidiary business, Dot 2 Dot.