Professor Davies became Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global in 2014. He is a petroleum geologist, who started his career with various postings in the UK and abroad in the oil and gas industry, mainly with ExxonMobil.  He has published around 100 papers and is an expert on fracking. He has held a number of pan-university leadership roles including the founder and first Director of the Durham Energy Institute at Durham University. He later became Dean for Knowledge Exchange and Impact and was responsible for implementing the University's strategy for research impact. For more than a decade Richard has led research on the environmental risks and impact of fossil fuel exploitation and used this peer-reviewed research to provide an evidence base for members of the public, governments, government agencies, industry and NGOs, both nationally and internationally.