Richard is an internationally-known researcher, author and consultant on waste management and thermopyllic composting. After completing his NDA degree at the Royal Berkshire College of Agriculture, Richard went on to research the life and works of Sir Albert Howard, now considered the grand father of modern organic farming. Richard subsequently further developed Howard’s fertility making system in India, re-presenting it in The Lost Science of Organic Cultivation

He has worked on organic farming and sanitation systems in the UK, Europe, India, China and Hawaii. He founded and runs the company Higgins Joinery Ltd., which manufactures energy-efficient sash windows.

In 2010, Richard took an international food group into Haiti just two weeks after the earthquake, where he also presented the Howard-Higgins system of waste management to leading relief organisations. In a joint venture with CRS, (Catholic Relief Services), Richard personally established The Howard- Higgins thermophyllic composting SYSTEM for the safe remediation and agricultural use of processed human effluent ( which is often discarded as raw sewage onto the streets of Port au Prince by some American contractors.)

He established New Directions Foundation in Haiti as a registered NGO and is working with other NGO's to rebuild Haiti’s sanitation and agricultural infrastructure. He has been asked to design an ecological sanitation model for an IDP camp of 5,000 (internally displaced persons). Richard also writes a blog The Alchemy of Agriculture