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The James Hutton Institute was formed on 1 April 2011.
  • The James Hutton Institute was formed on 1 April 2011 by uniting the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and SCRI (Scottish Crop Research Institute).
  • The organisation has offices and laboratories in Aberdeen and Dundee and also supports postgraduate students. As of January 2022, the Institute has 518 employees, of which 387 are in science-related roles. It also supports around 2,130 jobs in Scotland and 3,280 jobs in the UK.
  • The Institute's Chief Executive is Professor Colin Campbell. As Director of Science Excellence, Professor Campbell was responsible for the strategic development of the excellence of the institute's scientists, facilities and resources. He has 28 years of research experience in soil microbiology/soil science applied to agri-environment issues.
  • Our Chairperson is Ian Gambles. He is the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission. Previously, Ian was Director of National Infrastructure at the Planning Inspectorate, and Director of Operations at the Infrastructure Planning Commission. His career has spanned both the public and private sectors, including HM Treasury and management consultancy firms KPMG and Deloitte.
  • The James Hutton Institute also comprises BioSS (Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland). BioSS undertakes research, consultancy and training in mathematics and statistics as applied to agriculture, the environment, food and health.
  • The Institute has a commercial subsidiary, James Hutton Limited, which provides competitive advantage through science and technology, including consultancy and analytical services for research and commercial purposes.
  • The Institute operates farms at Glensaugh in Aberdeenshire and Balruddery in Angus. Balruddery is home to the Centre for Sustainable Cropping.
  • An independent report has estimated that the Institute delivers £12.75 of economic benefit for each £1 received in funding from the Scottish Government.
  • 2015-16 figures indicate that the James Hutton Institute contributes an estimated £211.8m gross value added (GVA) to the Scottish economy, £318m GVA to the wider UK economy and £447.9m GVA to the global economy.
  • The world-renowned University of Dundee, Division of Plant Sciences is also based at the Dundee offices.
  • The Institute was ranked #21 in the 2016 absolute ranking of the best 100 independent think tanks mapped by the Initiative on Climate Change policy and Governance (ICCG) Think Tank Map.
  • Photograph of goods in supermarket trolleyProducts developed at the James Hutton Institute (and its forebears) are familiar names on supermarket shelves. They include popular raspberry varieties such as Glen Ample and Glen Lyon; potato varieties including Lady Balfour, Anya, Vales Sovereign, Vales Emerald and Mayan Gold; and our brassicas (swedes, turnips, kale etc.,) dominate the UK market.
  • The Institute is one of the first organisations of its kind to have been awarded Athena SWAN Charter status. The Athena SWAN Charter recognises commitment to advancing women's careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in academia.
  • Our researchers have worked with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to produce a series of briefing papers to raise the profile of the ecosystems approach in tackling not just climate change mitigation and adaptation, but also poverty alleviation, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity loss and many other environmental issues.
  • Our scientists are working in Africa to help farmers increase potato yields - and incomes - by establishing systems to support virus-free potato seed tuber production. In many areas, the potato is the second most important food crop after maize.
  • The James Hutton Institute’s experts have refined DNA fingerprinting techniques to aid in species identification, especially of liverworts and fungi. 
  • We take care of seed banks that have global importance for the science of genetics. They include the Commonwealth Potato Collection which contains approximately 1,500 accessions of about 80 wild and cultivated potato species. Each accession traces back to a handful of berries or tubers from potato plants in South or Central America, gathered from the wild or obtained from a grower at a market.
  • The National Soils Archive housed at the Aberdeen site contains more than 43,000 air-dried soil samples collected from 13,000 locations around Scotland. The samples were collected between 1934 and the present day.
  • Our Land Capability for Agriculture (LCA) classification is the official agricultural classification system widely used in Scotland by agriculturalists, planners, estate agents and others as a basis of land valuation and a useful strategic tool in rural development plans.
  • Hutton Soils provides analysis of soils for a wide range of clients from private gardeners to farmers and professional landscape design companies.
  • Our research directly addresses the need for information on how biodiversity will respond to anthropogenic drivers and the key links between biodiversity change and ecosystem function.
  • Fifty per cent of the world’s blackcurrant crop was developed by scientists in Dundee.

Printed from /about/facts-and-stats on 19/03/24 04:36:41 AM

The James Hutton Research Institute is the result of the merger in April 2011 of MLURI and SCRI. This merger formed a new powerhouse for research into food, land use, and climate change.