I have just joined RSC Wales as elearning advisor for ACL (Adult and Community Learning) and the Voluntary Sector. I have previously worked for Bangor University and Coleg Harlech WEA, and I am also an Associate Lecturer at the Open University.

I am a fully signed up and practising lifelong learner, having worked for some years as a farm worker, and subsequently as market gardener. I was an early adopter of organic growing methods, and can still make a mean compost heap. My academic disciplines are biology and environmental sciences, and I have spent some years stabbing plant cells with very small glass tubes in order to measure their pressures (ten times that of a car tyre, if you are interested). I subsequently became a teacher, and have taught science and related disciplines at most levels and to many types of learner from aged 11 years to ‘much-too-old-to-ask’. I am especially interested in finding ways in which the newer technologies can engage and enable learners who would otherwise not participate in education, and especially in informal learning and social networking.

I live in Anglesey with my partner Pauline, and our daughter Bethan. These two are fluent Welsh speakers, and I do my best to keep up. We all like swimming, cycling, and making music, as well as falling asleep in front of the telly.

You can contact me at paul.richardson941@googlemail.com