Scientists bring barley, whisky and climate research to LandxSea Festival
Researchers from The James Hutton Institute will launch this year’s LandxSea Film Festival with The Night Afore: A Dram of Science on Thursday 10th September at Montrose Playhouse.
The event will bring cutting-edge science into the Playhouse bar, exploring the science behind the crops, farming systems and innovations that support Scotland’s whisky industry. Alongside a series of short talks from the three PhD researchers, whisky tastings will be available for guests aged 18 and over.
The speakers are all part of theBARIToNE collaborative training partnership, which brings together 18 industry and seven academic partners to support 42 PhD students over seven years. The programme, supported by the Hutton’s International Barley Hub (IBH), the University of Dundee Faculty of Life Sciences and the University of Nottingham, aims to reduce environmental impacts across the barley supply chain, while helping secure its future in a changing climate.
“Barley and whisky are central to Scotland’s identity and economy but securing their future means tackling some real challenges, from climate change to pest control and much more.”
Dr Daniel Squair, BARIToNE programme manager
BARIToNE programme manager, Dr Daniel Squair, said, “It’s great to see Shanzay, Ella and James sharing their work with the broader community. Barley and whisky are central to Scotland’s identity and economy but securing their future means tackling some real challenges, from climate change to pest control and much more.
“Our students have made real progress in addressing these issues and seeing them present with such clarity and passion is a genuine privilege. It’s a reminder that programmes like BARIToNE can, and will, make a real difference to the sustainable farming of the future.”
The evening will feature three talks:
- Tilled with good intentions by James Grieves, exploring how intensive farming has met food production demands, but has also created environmental pressures and how research is helping to rethink agricultural systems for the future.
- Expanding the range of barley gene editing tools by Shanzay Qumar, examining how technology could improve malting quality, disease resistance and climate resilience in barley varieties used by the whisky industry.
- Creating hybrids: bigger, better, faster, stronger by Ella Southin, highlighting how combining different barley varieties can unlock valuable genetic traits and drive crop improvement.
LandxSea Film Festival is an annual environmental festival that combines film, discussion, community engagement and action to explore our relationship with the natural world and how we can protect it.
Festival Director, Rachel Caplan, said, “We’re delighted to have scientists from The James Hutton Institute contributing to LandxSea this year.
“Their talks are a brilliant way to open up the festival beyond the cinema screen, bringing people together for fun, social and thought-provoking conversations about the land, sea and living world around us.
“As this year marks the tercentenary of James Hutton, after whom the institute is named, it’s a wonderful opportunity to look back at a legacy of curiosity and discovery, while thinking about the choices we make for the next 300 years.”
The fourth LandxSea Film Festival takes place at Montrose Playhouse from 11th to 13th September.
