 He also serves on the Rothamsted Research Board of Directors

Read's research focuses on plant and fungal physiology and ecology, particularly the biology of root-fungus symbioses.Read was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1990 and was formerly its Vice President and Biological Secretary until 2008 when he was succeeded by Professor Dame Jean Thomas.He was the 2002 recipient of the Kempe Award for Distinguished Ecologists.