Green-fingered families could all become plant scientists for the day this weekend as the James Hutton Institute and University of Dundee host a celebration of the power of plants.

Every breath we take and every meal we eat owes a debt to plants. From one little seed, planted into soil, many green lives can arise - from small herbs up to big trees, or from ornamental flowers to substantial crops which all animals and mankind need to survive on this planet.

Professor Lorna Dawson, Head of Soil Forensics at the James Hutton Institute and SEFARI Advisor on the Scottish Government‘s Strategic Research Programme 2016-2021, has been recognised with an Expert Witness Award 2019 by specialist magazine Lawyer Monthly, coinciding with her induction as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).

Research by a social scientist based within the James Hutton Institute’s Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences (SEGS) has been featured in a book recently published by the International Labour Organization (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations.

Drs Tony Craig and Alice Hague have been appointed to the leadership of the James Hutton Institute’s Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences (SEGS) group on an interim basis and will job-share in the role.

SEGS’ 40 staff work across economics, geography, sociology, anthropology, psychology and everything in between. Its mission is for Hutton to be internationally recognised for the quality, relevance and impact of its social science research connecting land, people and the environment.

Capacities for completely replacing animal protein in the human diet are limited and would require “major changes” in the structure of global agricultural food systems, according to new research.

A study carried out by Scottish scientists demonstrates the importance of a sustainable supply of lysine globally. Lysine is one of the amino acids that are essential for human nutrition.

Three industry organisations have joined forces to launch a brand new field-based arable event for Scotland: Arable Scotland, which is jointly organised by AHDB, the James Hutton Institute and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), will take place at Balruddery Farm, Invergowrie on 2 July.

Temperature has a pronounced effect on the formation of potato tubers: when temperature is too high, potato plants form less or no tubers, which can greatly decrease yields. Scientists at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen Nuremberg (Germany) and the James Hutton Institute have uncovered the genetic mechanism behind the decrease of potato yields under high temperatures, which may help develop heat-tolerant varieties and protect future potato yields.

The James Hutton Institute’s ongoing commitment to advancing the careers of women in science and technology has been recognised through the award of Athena SWAN Bronze status to November 2022, as communicated by an external award review panel.

Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history — and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely, warns a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the summary of which was approved at the 7th session of the IPBES Plenary, meeting last week (29 April – 4 May) in Paris.