Johnathan grew up in rural County Down, Northern Ireland. He studied Agricultural Sciences at the University of Nottingham and obtained his PhD from King’s College, London. He carried out post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge and then took a position at Long Ashton Research Station in Bristol. He relocated to Rothamsted Research in 2003 where he is currently Associate Director. Johnathan is also an Affiliated Lecturer at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor at the University of Nottingham, who also awarded him a DSc in 2006. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed papers, and is the inventor on multiple patents relating to the biotechnology of lipid metabolism. He is currently running the only GM field trial in the UK, evaluating the performance of plants engineered to accumulate omega-3 fish oils.