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MDT
The Macaulay Development Trust seeks to play a role in helping us to have relevant, excellent science. You can join us in this endeavour: whether you are a researcher or institution, working to improve and inform the sustainability of land management; or a Charity or NGO looking for a partner with whom to work, we would like to hear from you.
PhD research showcased at Hutton 2020 postgraduate event (News)
The annual Hutton Postgraduate Student Event, which showcases the excellent science being undertaken by postgraduate students at the James Hutton Institute, took place at the Birnam Arts and Conference Centre, Birnam, on Thursday ... Read more
March 10, 2020
Watch the 42nd TB Macaulay Lecture by Professor Dieter Helm: Green and Prosperous Land (News)
The 42nd TB Macaulay Lecture, given by Dieter Helm CBE, Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Fellow of New College, Oxford, on the topic of how to achieve a green and prosperous land in the face of multiple chall ... Read more
October 4, 2019
Translating policy from global to local in a complex natural world (News)
Policy translation from the international down to the local scales can be rather like a game of Chinese whispers: what you end up with is often not what was intended. Part of the problem is that the best laid plans become ruthless ... Read more
October 1, 2019
Digital soil mapping to improve knowledge of soil-water relationships in Scotland (News)
Soils delay runoff, store and redistribute water and provide a supply of moisture for plant growth. These soil functions are fundamental for the understanding of how pollutants travel from land to waters and to evaluate ecosystem ... Read more
September 23, 2019
42nd T.B. Macaulay Lecture - Green and Prosperous Land (Event)
Each year the Macaulay Development Trust, in partnership with the James Hutton Institute, hosts a world-renowned guest speaker for its annual TB Macaulay Lecture. This year we are delighted to welcome Professor Dieter Helm, Profes ... Read more
Professor Dieter Helm announced as speaker of 42nd TB Macaulay Lecture: Green and Prosperous Land (News)
Dieter Helm CBE, Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Fellow of New College, Oxford, has been announced as the speaker of the 42nd T.B. Macaulay Lecture, presented in partnership by the James Hutton Institute and ... Read more
July 11, 2019
James Hutton Institute unveils Hydro Nation International Centre (News)
As part of Scotland’s continued efforts to become the world’s first Hydro Nation – one that manages its water environment to the best advantage and uses its expertise at home and internationally - the James Hutto ... Read more
March 22, 2019
PhD research showcased at Hutton 2019 postgraduate event (News)
Our annual Postgraduate Student Event, which showcases the excellent science being undertaken by postgraduate students at the James Hutton Institute, took place at the Birnam Arts and Conference Centre, Birnam on Wednesday 6th Mar ... Read more
March 11, 2019
International academics gather to discuss Scottish land reform in a global context (News)
Allocation of land rights and struggles for access to land and natural resources are common worldwide. The rise of land reform on the political agenda following Scottish devolution in 1999 is commonly attributed to the relatively ... Read more
March 5, 2019
Mars and Mull share similar soil, Hutton analysis finds (News)
NASA’s InSight lander has been headline news in recent weeks, as it continues to send back clear images of the rocky and unforgiving surface of Mars. However, the previous exploration robot sent to roam the red planet, the C ... Read more
December 10, 2018
Creation of soil X-ray signatures contribute to vision of “digital mineralogy” (News)
A new research study aims to demonstrate how the combination of digital X-ray signatures with data-driven approaches can replace the time-consuming elements of expert led mineral identification and allow for new insights into the ... Read more
November 2, 2018
Watch the 41st TB Macaulay Lecture by Professor Jacqueline McGlade: Natural prosperity in an age of global change (News)
The 41st T.B. Macaulay Lecture, given by Professor Jacqueline McGlade on the topic of natural prosperity and innovative solutions for a business-unusual approach to rapid global change, is now available to watch online. In the l ... Read more
October 5, 2018
Join us for the 41st T.B. Macaulay Lecture: The challenge of sustainable development (News)
We have recently lived through three years in a row of the hottest temperatures recorded worldwide, a clear sign that our climate is changing, and changing fast. Is this enough to spur us into tackling climate change and other sus ... Read more
September 24, 2018
41st T.B. Macaulay Lecture - The Challenge of Sustainable Development: From global UN policy to local community survival in the face of climate change (Event)
Each year the Macaulay Development Trust, in partnership with the James Hutton Institute, hosts a world-renowned guest speaker for its annual TB Macaulay lecture. This year we have been lucky enough to secure Professor Jacqueline ... Read more
Prosperity without growth: is it possible? Watch the 40th Macaulay Lecture on our YouTube channel (News)
Is economic growth the solution to our challenges? Will it really deliver prosperity and wellbeing for a rapidly growing global population and allow us to live on a planet with finite resources? Should our prosperity be measured b ... Read more
October 2, 2017
Better support for renewable energy decision making (News)
Anaerobic digestion, a process by which micro-organisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen leading to the production of biogas and bio-fertilisers, is an increasingly relevant source of renewable electricit ... Read more
September 29, 2017
Study to expand knowledge of ectomycorrhizal fungi in Scotland (News)
Researchers at the James Hutton Institute and the University of Aberdeen are exploring the relationship between ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi and native tree species in Scotland. The study will also determine which climatic and envi ... Read more
September 21, 2017
Improved isotopic analysis capabilities for unrivalled precision and accuracy (News)
The James Hutton Institute is reinforcing its extensive analytical chemistry capabilities for research and commercial work through an £500K investment on a new Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometer, which will allow the Insti ... Read more
September 15, 2017
Prosperity without growth: is it possible, and could it answer economic challenges in Scotland? (News)
Is economic growth the solution to our challenges? Will it really deliver prosperity and wellbeing for a rapidly growing global population and allow us to live on a planet with finite resources? Should our prosperity be measured b ... Read more
September 14, 2017
Digital mapping techniques to improve knowledge of British soils (News)
Soil scientists at the James Hutton Institute are working to create the first unified digital map of soil properties within Great Britain, a development which will contribute to worldwide Global Soil Map projects and improve the d ... Read more
September 8, 2017
Professor Tim Jackson announced as speaker of 40th TB Macaulay Lecture (News)
Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), has been announced as the speaker of the 40th T.B. Macaulay Lecture, ... Read more
May 15, 2017
40th T.B. Macaulay Lecture - Prosperity Without Growth: Foundations for the Economy of Tomorrow (Event)
Tim Jackson, Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), will deliver the 40th T.B. Macaulay Lecture, which will take place fo ... Read more
I am Macaulay Development Trust (MDT) Postdoctoral Fellow with a research background in catchment and soil hydrology and geospatial analysis working on the application of Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) techniques to hydropedology. My research aims to use DSM techniques to map water regulatory functions of soils in order to improve the predictions of river flows and solute movement through soils and substrates and as input to models of soil functions and environmental risk assessments.
Current research interests
- Improve the spatial prediction of the Hydrology of Soil Types (HOST) classification system designed to predict river flows and as input into national scale risk mapping by using DSM techniques and machine-learning algorithms (e.g. Random Forests classifier).
- Develop DSM techniques relevant to predicting water flow through soils by incorporating soil morphological data and explore methods to estimate their statistical uncertainty.
Past research
- Water Resources Management of Coastal Agricultural Environments - Resilience of Climate Change Impacts (AGROCLIMA)" (funded under Cooperation 2011/General Secretariat of Education and Research, Greece).
- Participatory multi-Level Earth Observation-assisted tools for Irrigation water management and Agricultural Decision-Support (PLEIADES ) (funded by EU FP6).
- Proactive Management of water systems to face drought and water scarcity in islands and coastal areas of the Mediterranean (PRODIM) (funded by EU INTERREG II).
- Effect of broadleaf woodland cover on streamwater chemistry and risk assessments of streamwater acidification in acid-sensitive catchments in the UK (PhD research funded by the Greek State Scholarship foundation, University of Edinburgh).
Current research interests
- Plant nutrient provision from soil minerals
- Mineral controls on soil decomposition rates
- Open source software for quantitative soil mineralogy
- Terrestrial soil analogues for Martian soil mineralogy
Aside from Digital Soil Mineralogy research, Benjamin contributes to an ongoing soil survey programme for Forestry and Land Scotland. The surveying seeks to provide detailed soil maps that can allow forest planners to create planting strategies that are appropriate to the soil.
Past research
Digital Soil Mineralogy postdoctoral fellowship (2016 - 2019): Funded by the Macaulay Development Trust, the fellowship was used to define the Digital Soil Mineralogy concept and to develop associated data-driven methods for analysing national scale soil XRPD datasets.
Mineral Dynamics in Sea Ice (2012 - 2016): Funded by a NERC studentship, Benjamin's PhD research investigated the mineralogy and geochemistry of sea ice. This research used controlled laboratory experiments and synchrotron XRPD (Diamond Light Source) to understand the presence, persistence and significance of authigenic minerals in sea ice, as well as defining major physico-chemical properties of the sea ice system.
39th TB Macaulay Lecture on sustainable development goals now available to watch online (News)
The publication of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 was the expression of a global consensus to follow a pathway to a better future. The 17 goals and the 169 targets indicate areas where progress is ... Read more
October 13, 2016
Working together for better outcomes – guidance notes now available (News)
The organisers of a workshop in which organisations from all across the UK came together to discuss better collaboration when tackling interdisciplinary research have published a body of guidance notes, intended to supply advice a ... Read more
March 28, 2016
Finding out about the "hidden uses" of soil data (News)
A Macaulay Development Trust funded PhD student, based between the James Hutton Institute and Cranfield University, is seeking information from individuals and organisations about their utilisation of soils data, in a drive to imp ... Read more
August 3, 2015
Pauline joined the James Hutton Institute in early 2015 as a Research Fellow in Remote Sensing. She is a geomatics research scientist with more than ten years experience across a range of techniques and application domains. She specialises in the development of geospatial methodologies and solutions for challenges in the earth and environmental sciences.
Current research interests
My interests are in applied economics, including energy economics, agricultural economics and development economics. My expertise lies with (1) developing and/or implementing algorithms to design optimal energy networks; (2) constructing optimisation models to investigate behaviour of economic agents; and (3) use of large datasets for econometric and economic modelling. I have advanced software expertise in GAMS, Matlab, Stata and ArcGIS among others.
Past research
Overview
- Abdul-Salam, Y. 'A website for assessing the economics of energy businesses and projects'. Energy Business Economics applications website (www.energybusinesseconomics.com)
- Abdul-Salam, Y., Ehlers, M. H., & Harnmeijer, J. (2017). Anaerobic Digestion of Feedstock Grown on Marginal Land: Break-Even Electricity Prices. Energies, 10(9), 1416. DOI: :10.3390/en10091416
- Abdul-Salam, Y. & Phimister, EC. (2016). 'The Politico-Economics of Electricity Planning in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Ghana'. Energy Policy. Vol 88C, pp. 299-309. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.10.036
- Abdul-Salam, Y. & Phimister, EC. (2016). ‘How effective are heuristic solutions for electricity planning in developing countries’. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences. Vol 55, pp. 14-24. DOI: 10.1016/j.seps.2016.04.004
- Abdul-Salam, Y. & Phimister, EC. (2016). ‘Efficiency Effects of Access to Information on Small Scale Agriculture: Empirical Evidence from Uganda using Stochastic Frontier and IRT Models’. Journal of Agricultural Economics. Vol 68.2 DOI:10.1111/1477-9552.12194
- Smith, JU., Fischer, A., Hallett, PD., Homans, HY., Smith, P., Abdul-Salam, Y., Emmerling, HH. & Phimister, EC. (2015). 'Sustainable use of organic resources for bioenergy, food and water provision in rural Sub-Saharan Africa'. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol 50, pp. 903-917. DOI: 10.1016/J.RSER.2015.04.071
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Vinten, A., Sample, J., Ibiyemi, A., Abdul-Salam, Y., Stutter, M., (2017), 'A tool for cost-effectiveness analysis of field scale sediment bound phosphorus mitigation measures and application to analysis of spatial and temporal targeting in the Lunan water catchment, Scotland'. Science of the Total Environment Vol 586 pp.631-641: DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.034
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Abdul-Salam, Y. (2016). ‘SADEAT - Stochastic (Combined Heat and Power) Anaerobic Digestion Economic Assessment Tool’. Dedicated software summary page at The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, UK. Available here
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Abdul-Salam, Y. (2016). 'SADEAT v.1.0 User Guide - Stochastic (Combined Heat and Power) Anaerobic Digestion Economic Assessment Tool'. A decision support software application. Full software version 1.0.1 available to download here or here and install for Windows computers
Technical reports
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Harnmeijer, J., Allan, G., Abdul-Salam, Y. (2017). ‘The Economic Impact of Local Energy Economies.’ A report prepared for the Scottish Centre of Expertise on Climate Change (‘ClimateXChange’)
- Melo, P., Abdul-Salam, Y. Roberts, D., Gilbert, A., Mathews, R., Colen, L., Mary, S., Gomez, Y.P., (2015). ‘Income elasticities of food demand in Africa: A Meta-Analysis’. European Commission Joint Research Centre Technical Reports. Available online.
- Abdul-Salam, Y., Hawes, C., Roberts, D., Young, M. (2016). ‘The economics of conventional and sustainable crop production systems in the context of farmer participation in carbon trading markets.’ A report for The James Hutton Institute’s Centre for Sustainable Cropping, Dundee, Scotland
Conference proceedings
- Melo, P., Abdul-Salam, Y. Roberts, D., Colen, L., Gomez, Y.P, Mary, S. (2016), ‘Income growth and malnutrition in Africa. Is there a need for region-specific policies’, 90th Annual Conference of the Agricultural Economics Society (AES), Warwick, UK, April 2016
- Abdul-Salam, Y. and Phimister, E. (2015), ‘The Impact of Access to Information on Small Scale Agricultural Production: Empirical Evidence from Uganda’, 89th Annual Conference of the Agricultural Economics Society (AES), Warwick, UK, April 2015
- Abdul-Salam, Y. and Phimister, E. (2014), ‘Modelling the Impact of Market Imperfections on Farm Household Investment in Standalone Solar PV’, 88th Annual Conference of the Agricultural Economics Society (AES), Paris, France, April 2014
- Abdul-Salam, Y. and Phimister, E. (2014), ‘Modelling the Impact of Market Imperfections on Farm Household Investment in Standalone Solar PV’, 10th British Institute of Energy Economics Conference (BIEE), Oxford, UK, September 2014
- Abdul-Salam, Y. and Phimister, E. (2014), ‘Universal Access to Electricity; Grid versus Decentralised Solutions in Ghana’, International Association of Energy Economics (IAEE) European Conference, Dusseldorf, Germany, August 2013
Others
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Abdul-Salam, Y. (2014) ‘Access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Modelling the importance and adoption of off-grid renewables’, University of Aberdeen PhD Thesis
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Abdul-Salam, Y. (2010) ‘An Assessment of the Economic Feasibility of Renewable Energy Systems in Developing Countries: A Case Study of Ghana’, University of Aberdeen MSc Thesis (awarded Best MSc Dissertation)
Learning Landscape Partnerships (Project)
Despite many decades of research within protected area landscapes, many protected area management organisations struggle to use scientific expertise in their management and decision making processes. The project has been funded by ... Read more
Jelte grew up in sub-Saharan Africa, and lived and worked in Australia, Greenland, the Himalayas and the Pacific Northwest before moving to Scotland.
Current research interests
Jelte is interested in how humans engage with energy systems, particularly renewables.
- Under what conditions do distributed renewables pose a viable vehicle for socio-economic empowerment in the developing world?
- What benefits do renewable energy projects owned and controlled by local communities bring above and beyond those developed and operated by commercial stakeholders?
- How can policy best be crafted to accelerate and promote community renewables uptake?
Host Identity and Climate as Determinants of Ectomycorrhizal Fungal Distribution in Scotland (Research Page)
Background Over 85% of land plants are obligate associated with mycorrhizal fungi illustrating the importance of the symbiosis. Fungi provide water and essential nutrients to their host plants in exchange for carbohydrates deriv ... Read more
