Andrew is a research scientist with 29 years field experience in carrying out assessment of land resources throughout Scotland and the wider UK. His expertise ranges from soil survey, classification and sampling to the assessment of grazing and trampling impacts on upland vegetation. He has combined research interests in soils and upland ecology with extensive consultancy work for a wide range of government bodies, agencies and private clients.
Andrew started his career working for the Soil Survey of Scotland, Macaulay Institute, carrying out soil surveys and land classification at a range of scales. He was also involved in the baseline sampling of the National Soils Inventory. His research interests in upland ecology led to a collaborative project with the Deer Commission Scotland (DCS) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to devise and test sampling strategies for carrying out assessment of grazing and trampling impacts over extensive upland areas. The outcome of this work greatly facilitated management planning by Deer Management Groups. He also has research interests in the effects of agri-environment schemes, native woodland regeneration and peatlands. He leads the Soil Survey and Land Evaluation Unit carrying out a range of consultancy work and is currently a principal investigator involved in the re-sampling of the National Soils Inventory and a wide range of core research and applied projects related to soil quality, land evaluation, peatland erosion, environmental change and the provision of soils data.
Links:
[1] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4504-3747