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Dr Fiona Williams

BA., M.Phil., PhD., FHEA.

Senior Lecturer in Rural Land Use and Management

Fiona is a social scientist specialising in rural geography, with extensive research and consultancy experience across diverse rural sectors. Her work predominantly takes place at the policy–practice interface, addressing themes such as generational renewal in farming, the rural digital economy and society, and rural flood vulnerability and resilience.

Fiona’s current research focuses on:

The family farm in transition and pathways for new entrants to agriculture
Intergenerational behaviours and processes of change
Careers in agriculture and allied professions
The implications of policy shifts for farming communities

Fiona also undertakes research on the social and economic implications of rural flooding, and digital engagement, inclusion, and resilience in rural contexts, with a particular focus on inequalities in access and opportunity. ORCID-ID list of papers here.

Fiona’s teaching focuses on rural geography, rural land-use policy and management, social science research methods, and Honours research project supervision. She has successfully supervised three PhD students:

Advancing Contemporary Understandings of Rural Community Flood Experiences (2026)
A Critical Review of Rural Proofing in England (2019)
Practitioners’ Perceptions of the Process of Innovating in Health and Social Care in Rural Wales (2014)

She is currently supervising two doctoral projects.

Professional Memberships

Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society - Institute of British Geographers (FRGS)

Member of the RGS-IBG Rural Geography Research Group (Dissertation Prize Co-ordinator for RGRG, 2016-22)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Local Assessment Panel Chair (Shropshire Hills National Landscape) for Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme (member 2022-2025; Chair 2026 - to date)

Academic Department: Harper Adams Business School

Research: Informing Sustainable Policy, Planning and Professional Practice (IS4P)

Threads: www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-williams-50b7541b5

Office: F.64 Jubilee Adams, Tudor Lodge and NW Building

Research profile: ORCID

Publications

Other publications

Jones, D., Williams, F. Mis, N., Marren, P. (2025) Towards Equity? Advancing Rural Consideration in Flood Risk Management. CIWEM Journal of Flood Risk Management 18
Toogood, C., Williams, F., & Nye, C. (2025) Exploring calling to farming careers in the United Kingdom: a scoping review British Journal of Guidance & Counselling
Jones, D., Bhattacharya Mis, N., Williams, F. (2024) The evolution of the disaster risk management cycle and its continuing applicability to an evolving flood threat. In J. Lamond, D. Proverbs, N. Bhattacharya Mis (Eds), Research Handbook on Flood Risk Management, pp 9-24. Elgar Publishing
Ingram, J., Maye, D., Bailye, C., Barnes, A., Bear, C., Bell, M., Cutressf, D., Davies, L., de Boon, A., Dinnie, L., Gairdner, J.,Hafferty, C., Holloway, L., Kindred, D., Kirby, D., Leake, B., Manning, L., Marchant, B., Morse, A., Oxley, S., Phillips, M., Regan, A., Rial-Lovera, K., Rose, D.C., Schillings, J., Williams, F., Williams, H., Wilson, L. (2022) What are the priority research questions for digital agriculture? Land Use Policy 114
Halfacree, K., Williams, F. (2021) Advancing rural as ‘something more than a human estate’: Exploring UK sheep-shaping. Journal of Rural Studies 87
Barton, C., Buckley, J.P, Samia, P., Williams, F., Taylor, S.R., Lindoewood, R.D. (2020) The efficacy of appropriate paper-based technology for Kenyan children with cerebral palsy. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology 17
Philip, L., Williams, F. (2019) Healthy Ageing in Smart Villages? Observations from the Field. European Countryside 11
Philip, L., Williams, F. (2019) Remote rural home-based businesses and digital inequalities: Understanding needs and expectations in a digitally underserved community. Journal of Rural Studies 68
Williams, F. (2018) Digital Connectivity. In Reuschke, D. and M. Domecka. Policy Brief on Home-Based Businesses, OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Papers, No. 11, OECD Publishing, Paris. pp 28-30
Philip, L., Cottrill, C., Farrington, J., Williams, F., Ashmore, F. (2017) The digital divide: patterns, policy and options for connecting the final few in rural communities across Great Britain. Journal of Rural Studies 54
Williams, F., Philip, L., Fairhurst, G. Farrington, J. (2016) ‘Digital by Default’ and ‘the hard to reach’: exploring solutions to digital exclusion in remote rural areas. Local Economy 31
Corbett, S., Williams, F. (2014) 'Striking a professional balance: interactions between nurses and their older rural patients'. British Journal of Community Nursing 19

Additional Information

Former Individual Member of Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Partnership Board (AONB), and Strategy and Performance Committee

Research projects

Carbon farming: co-creation for behavioural change within a supportive AKIS - Second Supervisor

Contact

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