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RSGS Honorary Fellowship for Professor Alison Hester

L-R: Mike Robinson (RSGS CEO), Alison Hester, Roger Crofts (RSGS chair)
"Alison has brought sound science to enable issues to be addressed through her rigorous and objective scientific approach and challenging the apparent experts with a depth of knowledge second to none"

Professor Alison Hester, a senior research scientist within the James Hutton Institute’s Ecological Sciences group in Aberdeen, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) in recognition of outstanding contributions to science and its application to real-world issues.

In her work for over a quarter of a century, Professor Hester has played a leading role in developing a greater understanding of land use especially in the uplands, on the face of conflicts between renewable energy, plantation forestry, low-intensity farming, deer management, retaining open moorland for breeding birds and halting persecution of raptors.

Professor Roger Crofts, chair of RSGS, said: “What Alison has done is brought sound science to enable these issues to be addressed through her rigorous and objective scientific approach and challenging the apparent experts with a depth of knowledge second to none.

“And, in addition, she has been adept at persuading the many voices all with their own answers to come together and begin to listen to research results and put new ideas into practice.”

Congratulating Professor Hester on her achievement, Professor Colin Campbell, chief executive of the James Hutton Institute, commented: “Alison’s knowledge and expertise on upland ecology are internationally recognised and she has been an outstanding scientist and colleague at the James Hutton Institute who is encouraging of all around her.

“She has the great quality of being empathic and seeks to help people out of a situation or solve a problem and tirelessly seeks solutions and contributions from all the different perspectives and people involved in an issue. In that sense, she is not just an expert in her discipline, but she is one of the pioneers of inter-disciplinary working.”

The RSGS is a community that shares a passion for people, places and the planet and strives to inspire, inform and help provide solutions to some of the world's most complex and urgent geographical problems. It has the support of more than 2,700 members and nearly 120 volunteers.

Over the past 135 years, the RSGS has worked with an impressive list of explorers, adventurers, travellers, photographers, writers, humanitarians, scientists, journalists and communicators, including names such as Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen, Robert Falcon Scott, Neil Armstrong, Sir David Attenborough, Isobel Wylie Hutchison, Sir Edmund Hillary, Rosie Swale Pope, Annie Lennox, Christiana Figueres, Michael Palin, Chris Packham, Greta Thunberg and Karen Darke.

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Printed from /news/rsgs-honorary-fellowship-professor-alison-hester on 19/03/24 10:05:37 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.