Hutton Highlights December 2023 Hunt for cause of deadly horse disease turns to Hutton soil science Pioneering agri-tech at the Hutton 44th TB Macaulay Lecture
2 Hutton Highlights The James Hutton Institute magazine team: editor@hutton.ac.uk The James Hutton Institute is a well-respected and globally recognised research organisation delivering fundamental and applied science to drive the sustainable use of land and natural resources. @JamesHuttonInst @JamesHuttonInstitute @JamesHuttonInstitute @james-hutton-institute Contents 04 New net zero ambition for Hutton 06 Awards, accolades and appointments 08 44th TB Macaulay Lecture, Johan Rockstrom: Responsible land-use is the key to a healthier planet 10 Pioneering agri-tech at the Hutton 12 “Cuckoo” of the ant world rediscovered on Deeside 14 New opportunities for barley 16 Hunt for cause of deadly horse disease turns to Hutton soil science 18 Hutton helping communities “Coevolve” with nature 19 New crop storage facility at Invergowrie 20 Considerable change needed to stop nature loss in Scotland 22 The wild world of “rewilding” 24 Training an eye in the sky on Scottish peatland health 24 04 14 16 20 @JamesHuttonInst
December 2023 3 Reach and delivery, this is the time to make an impact. It’s hard to believe six months have gone by since the last edition, yet so much has happened. A major highlight was the 44th TB Macaulay Lecture, delivered by climate change expert Professor Johan Rockström. More than 500 people attended the event, presented in partnership with the Macaulay Development Trust at Edinburgh’s McEwan Hall (featured on pages 8-9). We also delivered a series of successful agri-events including Potatoes in Practice, Arable Scotland and Fruit for the Future (pages 26-27). These are all hugely valuable ways of engaging with the people in these sectors. The reach of our work has spanned an incredible range, from ants to agent-based modelling and from hunting the cause for equine grass sickness to cutting edge developments in agri-tech, all of which you can read about in this edition. We have also had cause to celebrate, with our peatland team winning the coveted Best Conservation Science Award in the Nature of Scotland Awards. There have been challenges. Severe storms and flooding have affected communities in which we live and work, highlighting the importance of our work on flood mitigation, while geo-political events have impacted us, both professionally and personally. But, as we look into 2024, we’re positive. COP28 put food and agriculture on the table, helping to recognise the value and importance of our work, not least our Tay Cities Region Deal-funded International Barley Hub and Advanced Plant Growth Centre building, which will officially open during 2024. We will also see campus re-design work at Craigiebuckler begin in earnest, including our exciting new Just Transition Hub, funded through the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Fund, which we look forward to telling you more about in the next edition. I would like to finish by thanking everyone at the Hutton, our board members, campus partners and stakeholders for everything you have and are doing to help us deliver on these projects. I hope you enjoy reading this edition and are as inspired as I am by all our work across land, food, water and the environment. Introduction Professor Colin Campbell, Chief Executive of The James Hutton Institute We have launched a Hutton podcast! Hutton Highlights is bringing our science to wherever you listen to your podcasts – whether that’s on your morning walk or while doing the dishes. Through our podcast, we’re bringing you insights into a huge range of the work we do here at the Hutton across food, energy and environmental security. You can download episodes today, looking at the pioneering work we do on peatlands, the uses of agent-based modelling, how soil science could unlock a horrific horse disease, the causes of nature loss and what clay minerology can tell us about life on Mars and more. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as they’re released! Hutton Highlights – the podcast!
The Hutton has set out a new target to reach net zero emissions from its activities by 2035. In its new Climate Action Plan 2035, the Hutton also commits to reach net zero emissions from other indirect sources, such as emissions from suppliers, by 2040. In addition, it has a target to increase the proportion of its suppliers with net zero emissions targets by 5% of its total spending, year on year. Stefan Jindra, Sustainability Coordinator at the Hutton, says, “We recognise the scale of the challenge and know we have to lead by example. We’re doing this through our research into ways to find creative scientific solutions to the nature and climate crises, but also how we operate. “Since 2019, we’ve already reduced our emissions by 15%, through more efficient buildings, replacing lighting, changing our ultralow temperature freezer settings, and using wind, solar and biomass heating, as well as native woodland planting, agroforestry and restoring peatland at our Glensaugh research farm. The Hutton has invested in a new X-ray diffraction (XRD) machine to help keep it at the top of the world league in mineralogy and address challenges across soil health, from food security to carbon storage. The new machine boosts the institute’s analytics capacity, especially around the precise determination of rock and soil content supporting work around soil quality and health and expanding capacity for commercial analysis for industries ranging from mining to medicine. Past and current customers using the Hutton’s XRD capability range from pet litter produce to mining companies, with customers coming from as far away as Australia to more locally in Aberdeen. Researchers at the Hutton are supporting a £6 million project led by Moredun Research Institute to develop an effective vaccine for onfarm worm control. The project is an international, multi-institutional partnership with the University of Glasgow and the University of New England, Australia. The Hutton’s team will incorporate vaccine components identified by the partners into novel thermally responsive particle and gel-based systems to improve delivery and strengthen the capacity of the vaccine to protect livestock against infection by gastrointestinal nematodes. The Hutton has been announced as one of four new projects launched with the help of £500,000 funding to help boost the impact of the UK’s Future of UK Treescapes Programme. Through its new project, the Tree of Knowledge (ToK), the Hutton will lead work that will help to communicate the complexity of forest resilience drawing on findings from three ongoing Future of UK Treescapes projects, DiversiTree, newLEAF and MEMBRA. This will make work around tree species, genetics and epigenetics (where traits such as resilience to cold are passed to the next generation) more visible and understandable to practitioners such as foresters, as well as policymakers and the public. News highlights New net zero ambition for Hutton New XRD capacity Sheep vaccine goal funded Communicating future treescapes 4 Hutton Highlights Stefan Jindra, Sustainability Coordinator, The James Hutton Institute “But there’s much more we must do. At our main campuses in Invergowrie and Aberdeen, the focus is on heat and power. We’re working with a local community benefit organisation in Invergowrie on a solar array for renewable power and will be using heat pumps to replace our gas heating. In Aberdeen we’re considering options for heating, including using heat recovery from wastewater.”
Research on proteins that could help scientists improve and develop new crops could get a significant boost thanks to a newly funded project aimed at unlocking the “dark matter” that regular research methods can’t see. Using a share of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Pioneer Award funding, the Hutton’s Dr Runxuan Zhang will explore novel computational techniques that improve how much data scientists can interpret when studying proteins by up to 80%. Until now, studying plant proteins, which control how plants grow and function, but also their health benefits, involves either costly genetic analysis or, more commonly, a technique called mass spectrometry. However, only 20% of mass spectrometry data can currently interpreted, largely because most of the computational analysis behind it isn’t sensitive enough, holding this area of science – which can also be used in human and animal health – back, says Dr Zhang. This winter the Hutton donated nearly 1,000 bags of locally grown potatoes to Scotland’s leading food redistribution organisation, FareShare. The nearly 8,000 kg donation was collected by FareShare at the institute’s campus at Invergowrie and taken to the charity’s five Regional Centres in Aberdeen, Alness, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow to be shared with communities in need ahead of the festive season. The potatoes had been grown as part of a large-scale field trial, successfully undertaken in 2023 at the Hutton’s Balruddery Farm. The field trial included a range of wellknown varieties which when harvested were bagged separately and donated to FareShare. These varieties are among 100 varieties of potatoes the James Hutton Institute has developed over the last century with legacy research and industry partners. Continued research projects aim to produce potatoes which can handle global threats posed by climate and nature crises including pests and disease, in order to contribute to better food security in the future. Pioneer funding to unlock protein “dark matter” Hutton donates nearly 8 tonnes of tatties to FareShare Hutton researchers have launched a project to test whether honey and bumble bees could be spreading diseases more widely than they would normally due to inadvertently picking up microplastics. It’s already known that microplastics, which are now everywhere in the environment, can harbour disease-causing microbes. By picking them up and moving them around as they buzz about their business, bees along with other busy pollinators could also be spreading the diseases microplastics carry. Research scientist Dr Amy Cooper, who recently won Seedcorn funding from the institute to run the project, says, “This is potentially a new way for diseases to spread. Microplastics are now everywhere and honeybees, in particular, are very exposed to plastic, in their hives, the clothes beekeepers wear and even their food. Other insects are less exposed, but if honeybees are carrying microplastics around with pathogens on them, it’s a potentially powerful way for diseases to spread in the environment.” Testing links between disease, bees and microplastics December 2023 5 The research, which will run for a year, will initially test how well two different types of disease-causing pathogens (both plant and insect pathogens) attach to microplastics. It will then monitor honeybees, wild bees and other pollinators at a site in northeast Scotland for microplastics.
Awards, accolades and appointments 6 Hutton Highlights The Hutton has strengthened its board with nine new members, including its first early career non-executive directors. The new board members bring both a wealth of experience and fresh perspectives to the institute’s board. They are Professor Caroline Bowsher a Professor of Biology at The University of Manchester and Deputy Head of the Molecular Cellular Function Division within the Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, Dr Olga Kozlova, Director of Innovation and Engagement at the University of Oxford, and Eileen Stuart, Deputy Director for Nature & Climate Change with NatureScot. There is also Anne MacColl, an international consultant, Susan Mitchell, Chief Operating Officer & Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Glasgow Caledonian University, and Lindsay Sim, Senior Manager for Finance and Revenues for Clackmannanshire Council. Robin Walker, whose career has included executive roles at household brands including Heinz, Carlsberg and HP, was also adopted onto the board alongside becoming the chair of James Hutton Limited, the Hutton’s commercial arm. The new early career board members are Sarah Cowie, environmental resources policy manager at NFU Scotland, and Susan McDonald, Energy Transition Lead within Deloitte’s UK Sustainability & Climate Strategy team. Susan Davies, chair of the Hutton’s board, says, “I am delighted to welcome these new non-executive directors to the Hutton’s board. Together they bring a great depth of experience and expertise to the institute. For the first time in the institute’s history, we are delighted to be joined by two early-career non-executives. They will bring fresh perspectives and different ways of thinking into our board on strategy and science as we look to address the challenges we face across land, crops, water and the environment.” Hutton strengthens board; first early career non-execs Anne MacColl Robin Walker Caroline Bowsher Sarah Cowie Dr Olga Kozlova Susan McDonald Eileen Stuart Eileen Stuart Susan Davies Lindsay Sim
December 2023 7 New appointments, from APGC to NESBiP We have a number of new appointments here at the Hutton. Dr Robert Hancock has been appointed as Deputy Director of the Advanced Plant Growth Centre (APGC). Dr Hancock has been closely involved with the development of the project since its inception and played a key role in developing the phenotyping platform whilst working with the UK academic community through PhenomUK. As the new Deputy Director, Dr Hancock brings his expertise as a plant physiologist and biochemist with a notable track record in industry collaborative research, focussing on resource use efficiency and response to abiotic stress in crops, primarily potatoes and soft fruit. A project development officer has been appointed to help drive forward the Hutton’s HydroGlen project. Niamh Carr, who recently graduated with an MSc in Renewable Energy Engineering at the University of Aberdeen, through a scholarship with TotalEnergies, will help convert the Hutton’s Glensaugh research farm into a green hydrogen-powered demonstration site. The North East Scotland Biodiversity Partnership (NESBiP), based at and supported by the Hutton, has a new coordinator. Liam McAllan, who is based at the Hutton’s Aberdeen campus, is now supporting the partnership of 40 organisations in driving “joined-up” approaches to conservation and tackling threats to biodiversity across North-East Scotland. Liam is a recent University of Aberdeen conservation biology graduate, where he led the university’s conservation volunteers, and grew up on a farm near Aberdeen. Pioneering scientific research by The James Hutton Institute into Scotland’s globally important peatlands has been recognised at the leading Scottish nature conservation awards. The Hutton’s work to put “peatland on the map” won the RSPB’s Nature of Scotland Conservation Science Award during a prestigious awards ceremony in Edinburgh in November. Over the last 10 years, the team has driven deeper understanding of the importance of Scotland’s peatland to the conservation of the natural environment and their role in contributing to, or mitigating, greenhouse gas emission. Through the production of a wide body of research, the Hutton’s interdisciplinary peatland team has enabled direct action, informing restoration and protection efforts of peatlands. Dr Rebekka Artz, who leads the Restoration and Adaptive Management team at the Hutton, says, “We’re honoured to be recognised for this award amongst such a selection of impactful conservation science teams. The peatland research team at the Hutton is a truly fantastic group of people focused on delivering scientific evidence with integrity and impact. “Our work has contributed significantly to understanding the effectiveness of peatland restoration, the condition that peatlands – which form a quarter of our land mass – are in, the greenhouse gas emissions damaged peatlands emit and the mitigation potential and other ecosystem function gains that can be achieved through their restoration.” In other awards, Roz Corbett, a human geography PhD student at the Hutton and University of Aberdeen has won the Scottish Land Commission’s National Student Award for 2023. Roz will use the £1,000 grant award to undertake stakeholder participation research into her doctoral thesis on community landownership and agricultural transitions in Scotland. This will focus on areas of the Commission’s work including governance models. such as exploring community ownership, new entrants to agriculture and gaining insight into the impact of different policy mechanisms. The Macaulay Development Trust’s (MDT) Green Finance Fellowship has been awarded to new Hutton staff member Dr Umar Farooq. Nature of Scotland Award for putting peatland on the map Dr Robert Hancock Roz Corbett Umar Farooq Niamh Carr Liam McAllan The fellowship will look at green finance and how it can drive environmental progress alongside economic interests. It will see Hutton research carried out into how finance can accelerate environmental and social sustainability. This will include evaluating the benefits of green finance and exploring innovative financial strategies that drive environmental and social progress while safeguarding economic interests.
44th TB Macaulay Lecture 8 Hutton Highlights The lecture, which is presented by the Hutton and the Macaulay Development Trust (MDT), highlighted the importance of responsible land-use as one of the most vital factors to securing a stable future for the planet. Drawing on his most recent Planetary Boundaries 3.0 research, which has for the first time defined and quantified the nine major processes needed for a sustainable future for the planet, Rockström spoke of the critical factors that could lead to tipping points. This is where previously self-sustaining ecosytems are pushed beyond a threshold in which there is a substantial and often irreversible shift, even if the initial driver of the change is removed. His observed that to keep global warming at or below 1.5°C, all remaining intact nature must be preserved, which means keeping 50% of terrestrial ecosystems on earth intact. He also noted that the “safe land-use” boundary has no capacity for expansion and that 45-50% of land on earth has been converted for agriculture, infrastructure and urban developments. This means we have reached the end of the road in expanding agriculture into intact nature and food systems require urgent reform. Drawing from modern scientific anthropological principles which identify land-use as the signifier of major global change, Rockström explained: “As we enter the Anthropocene, a new stage of civilisation characterised as ‘the time during which humans have had a substantial impact on our planet’, climate change is happening at a rate we have never seen before. The last time a change of this scale occurred in humanity was the shift from the huntergatherer model to the land-cultivating model of the Holocene – the beginnings of farming. A difference is that the rate of change is up to 100% faster today.” The lecture was further contextualised by speaker Professor Mathew Williams, Scotland’s Chief Scientific Advisor for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, panelists Professor Sir Ian Boyd, President of the Royal Society of Biology and Professor of Biology at University of St Andrews, and Laura Young, Hydro Nation Scholar and PhD student at the University of Abertay, as well as event hosts Fran van Dijk, Chair of the MDT, and Professor Colin Campbell, Chief Executive of the Hutton. Internationally recognised expert on global sustainability issues, Professor Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), shared his groundbreaking insights at the 44th annual TB Macaulay lecture held at the McEwan Hall in Edinburgh in October, in front of a 500-strong audience made up of leaders in climate action, agriculture, academia and policy.
Speaking afterwards, Rockström added: “Events like this enable information sharing and collaboration across industries and sectors, and give us encouraging evidence to suggest that a social tipping point for society to take action is already under way. This will be the most important factor to drive impactful change.” A policy roundtable was held on the afternoon of the lecture at the offices of Pinsent Masons in Edinburgh. It brought together 24 key players from policy, business, academia and science in Scotland into a closed door, invitation-only event. Co-chaired by Professor Sir Ian Boyd and Professor Mat Williams, who both sit on First Minister’s Environment Council, the purpose of the event was to learn and share lessons from the work on planetary boundaries so that Scotland can be at the forefront of tackling the climate emergency and ecological decline. Professor Rockstrom attended this event to provide overview and context and a note of the meeting was circulated to all attendees under Chatham House rules. “The insights provided by Johan communicated the sense of urgency that is required to spearhead actionable change by society,” said Professor Colin Campbell. “We need to consider our consumption, the way we use our resources and also the way we communicate the tipping point the world faces if we do not change our ways. Johan did suggest that it is not all doom and gloom. He suggested that a better world is entirely possible, but we need to acknowledge that it’s not incremental changes we need. Instead, big transformational change is essential. We know that Scotland has the skills and ambition to play a significant role in leading the actions to achieve transformation in its land use.” Watch the 44th TB Macaulay lecture: December 2023 9 “Hosting Professor Rockström has been a privilege. The work that he is doing addresses important global issues and has a significant impact on what the Macaulay Development Trust hopes to achieve in Scotland. Our continued focus is to fund excellent science and facilitate the exchange of research findings for accelerated impacts, supporting communities and improving social equity in our region.” Fran van Dijk, Chair of the Macaulay Development Trust
Pioneering agri-tech at the Hutton Integrating new tools/technologies into Scotland’s arable farming systems is essential to maintaining a successful, sustainable and thriving sector. The arable sector has pressing challenges and to hit net zero and biodiversity targets whilst adapting to a changing climate, rapid withdrawals of pesticides, altered supply chains and policy change is needed. 10 Hutton Highlights Innovation and adaptation are key to success across the farming sector and agri-tech is a vital component of this change: At the Hutton, we are involved in both the development and testing of innovative agri-tech and Andrew Christie, our agronomist and agri-Tech specialist has been involved in various projects, three of which are featured here. Tom v4 agri-tech robot In an international first, The James Hutton Institute took lease of Tom v4 robot this summer from the Small Robot Company in collaboration with the National Robotarium. An autonomous agri-tech robot, this valuable scientific tool will be used to scan agricultural fields to identify, locate and log individual weeds, streamline in-field phenotyping, bring added precision to scientific measurements and provide highresolution detail for per-plant analysis.
December 2023 11 Using an AI algorithm, Tom (who is the first of a planned group of robots which includes Dick, the weed-zapper still not commercially viable, and Harry, a digital planting robot that is still a concept) will support the creation of a “treatment map” telling farmers exactly how much herbicide to use and where to apply it. It is hoped this will dramatically reduce chemical usage by enabling farmers to deploy a targeted approached rather than treating the whole field. Christie is one of the Hutton staff carrying out research using Tom: “Having the Tom robot on site is expanding our capabilities in terms of agricultural research and precision breeding. With possibilities for different cameras and AI models to be applied, the potential for this scientific tool is extensive and expansive. There will be lots of opportunities to explore new uses for the robot in research and it will add value to many of our research proposals going forward. Our first task has been to implement Tom in cereal trials to help develop and improve precision of in-field phenotyping as part of our flagship initiative, the International Barley Hub, bringing better understanding of crop characteristics to help us in our aim of producing the resource efficient and climate resilient crops of the future.” Tom robot will be on lease to the Hutton for two years. Steam machine Steam weeding is an alternative form of weed control and is being trialled on an agricultural scale in Scotland thanks to a new machine developed through an innovation project by Christie and agro-ecologiost, Adrian Newton, with funding awarded by the Mains of Loirston Trust. Weed control is a challenge for farmers and growers thanks to the reducing availability of chemicals being licensed for use and the need to apply more environmentally-friendly techniques and practices. Over the last two years, Christie has been working with local firm Powerwasher Services to develop a machine that uses a steam generator which can fit on to tractors and other machines. Moving slowly, at just one mile an hour, the machine jets out steam which hits weeds such as thistles and groundsel, effectively killing them. Speaking of his invention, Christie said, “The reality is that we cannot rely on herbicides alone and need to have other tools in our toolbox to manage weeds and thermal weed control such as steam, is one of them. We have been working on this with colleagues, including making use of the specialist skills of the institute mechanic and Powerwasher Services since 2021. Having deployed the machine in arable and pasture situations, our related research considered impact including on biodiversity, treatment efficacy and effectiveness for use in pasture sward diversification. “Considering the low speeds involved in application and the suitability for use in fruit plantations, where contact herbicides options are limited, we are now adapting the machine so we can monitor the effectiveness of using steam weed control for the soft fruit sector.” Tay 5G Finally, in September, Tay5G, a Tay Cities Region Deal project in collaboration with the Scotland 5G Centre and industry partners, announced the winners of its Challenge Fund. A competitive funding initiative, its aim is to accelerate the development of innovative projects utilising the power of 5G technology to transform various sectors. It has been supported with around £430,000 of Scottish Government funding as part of its £2 million investment in Tay5G. The Hutton was amongst the winners, leveraging 5G technology to deploy sensor networks, adding automation, and utilising real-time data analytics to enhance precision in farming practices, increase crop yield and quality, and support sustainable agriculture. Christie was involved in the bid and shares his thoughts on what it means for the Hutton, “The Tay5G challenge fund will allow us to make forward thinking innovations that were once thought of as science fiction into a working reality. Integration of 5G technology has the potential to improve our farming systems with the addition of in-field sensors, remote access capability and automated functionality on farm equipment. “Accessibility and repeatability are features we want to build into our 5G enabled systems, as we would like to see similar technology rollout by other farmers as an outcome from the project. In proving a use case demonstration for the application of 5G private networks in agriculture, we hope to show that the technology is at our fingertips, not beyond our grasp.” For more information on any of these projects, please contact andrew.christie@hutton.ac.uk Andrew Christie
“Cuckoo” of the ant world rediscovered on Deeside A rare and very elusive ant has been discovered to be thriving in Deeside for the first time in more than 70 years. The shining guest ant, known for being a “cuckoo” of the ant world, because it only lives in the nests of other ants, was last seen in Deeside 1952. The rediscovery of the ant was made by wildlife tour operators Dan and Rachael Brown of Wild Discovery, at Crathie, on the Invercauld Estate, near Balmoral Castle. Their find was confirmed by experts at the Hutton who say the number of ants seen has been exceptional and far higher than anywhere else in Scotland. Dr Jenni Stockan, a research scientist specialising in insect ecology at the Hutton, says, “This is a notable find. The shining guest ant only lives in the nests of wood ants and the only other places it is found in Scotland are Speyside and Loch Lomond. “They are globally threatened, so to have found another population in Scotland, and a thriving one, is great news. The fact that they are present also indicates healthy wood ant populations.” Dan Brown, of Wild Discovery, said, “We were incredibly excited to discover the tiny, glistening bodies of shining guest ants amongst a heaving colony of wood ants. We have searched hundreds of wood ant mounds over the past few summers in Royal Deeside and this discovery came out of nowhere and just a few hundred meters from our house. Further searching revealed another four wood ant nests containing their tiny house mates, so who knows what other exciting discoveries await in the glen.” The ant was last recorded in Deeside in 1952, on the Invercauld estate, by entomologist Cedric Collingwood. Previous surveys for the shining guest ant on Deeside failed to find it, including extensive searches on the Invercauld estate, as part of the Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms project (led by RSPB). 12 Hutton Highlights
Scotland’s renewables boost vertical farming credentials Marine natural capital in focus Exascale computing could supercharge crisis response capability December 2023 13 Dr Frances Sandison Scotland’s increasing use of renewable energy could make vertical farming techniques more climate friendly than the traditional ways our greens are grown in fields, according to research by the Hutton. They found that using indoor, controlled farming methods for growing lettuce would emit more carbon than traditional open field methods, based on Scottish energy use in 2019. But that increased use of renewables for power – which accounts for up to 91% of the carbon footprint of vertical farming – could now mean it’s on a par with UK open-field grown lettuce in terms of its environmental credentials. With 100% renewable electricity and further improvements of the technique, emissions from indoor growing could fall further, to less than other traditional growing methods, including Spanish grown lettuce and lettuce grown in UK heated greenhouses. But even with 100% renewable energy, vertical farming has still yet to achieve carbon neutrality, cautions Dr Frances Sandison, a life cycle analyst at the Hutton, who led the work. The Hutton has joined a consortium working to help develop a pathway to greater financial investment for nature restoration in the marine environment. The group, consisting of Kaly Group, the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) and the Hutton, is investigating how to establish a market in marine natural capital in Scotland in a way that includes and supports local communities. The project has been awarded £100,000 from the Scottish Government and NatureScot, in partnership with The National Lottery Heritage Fund, under the new Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) grant scheme. A team of UK scientists led by The James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen are hoping to show how an advanced form of computer modelling could help supercharge how governments deal with major issues like pandemics – if it can be used on the world’s latest and most powerful socalled “exascale” computers. Agent based modelling can simulate how societies would react to a pandemic, war and energy supply problems. But it requires huge computational power to run and can take months to get results, which could be too late to influence decisions to avert or mitigate crises.
New opportunities for barley New uses for barley, but also new growing regions and ways to enhance crop yield under stressful conditions caused by climate change are all now under increased focus at the Hutton, thanks to a string of collaborative projects. By teaming up with scientists from across Europe as part of a major new project, experts from the University of Dundee and the Hutton hope to unlock several new uses for barley. Known as BEST-CROP, the study will analyse current varieties of barley and determine how these can be enhanced to improve its yield in light of a growing global population and pressures placed on food supplies by climate change and political events. The research will also attempt to examine whether the grass can be utilised in new ways, including its viability to make useful chemicals and architectural materials. The Hutton is also collaborating with leading research groups and industrial collaborator BioAtlantis in a new European research project called “CropPrime”. Supported by up to €1 million EU Horizon funding, CropPrime will develop “molecular priming” technologies, which will enhance crop yield under stressful conditions caused by climate change. One important aspect of the project will be the identification of natural compounds found in “plant biostimulant products” (which trigger natural plant processes that enhance nutrient use efficiency), derived from marine algae such as seaweed, produced by BioAtlantis, based in County Kerry, Ireland. The project will also work on developing RNA (similar to DNA)- based fungicides to reduce fungal infections in crops. The overall goal is to develop sustainable agri-tech products to help crop growers protect and enhance their crops against adverse weather conditions such as drought, heat, cold, and water-logging, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change. The Hutton along with its project partners, will investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying plant stress and how these relate to the physiological processes that support crop resilience. The project consortium brings together expertise in plant systems biology, chemistry, genetics and biostimulant technology from research institutions in Europe, Africa, and South America. Together with the International Barley Hub (IBH), the Hutton has also won funding from the Arctic Connections Fund for the Raising the Bar project. In partnership with the Innovation Centre for Organic Farming (Denmark) and the Agronomy Institute (UHI Orkney), Raising the Bar will look at how climate warming in Europe has led to northward expansion of crop cultivation into the Arctic regions and could now have a longer growing season with new opportunities for high value local products. The project will bring together a transnational multidisciplinary group to discuss and address challenges and opportunities, while also considering the societal aspects for isolated rural communities. 14 Hutton Highlights
Can we soften the blows of future flood events? Major flood events cause significant and long-lasting disruption to lives. Our research suggests we’re going to experience the impacts of such extreme events more often, as we share increasingly busy spaces with the natural world. But there are some measures we can take to soften those impacts. We should say that not all flooding is bad; it can help shape rivers and floodplains which, historically, has left us with highly prized farmland. But where it is a problem, there are several options. Traditionally, the “go-to” is what some call “hard engineering”. This is where, for example, walls, embankments and engineered structures are built to protect towns and cities from flooding. However, as recent events have shown, these can be vulnerable. Managing runoff in the wider landscape using what’s called “natural flood management”, has a role to play. This is for more persistent, small-to-medium floods by delaying and reducing the peak of the flood. It’s a “nature-based” technique that helps to slow down, store and filter water within river catchments. As well as helping reduce flood events, it also provides wider benefits, such as improving water quality and river-side habitats and should be possible aside productive land uses like farming and forestry. These approaches do mean looking at whole river systems – not just the river but the tributaries and the land around them, so it can mean asking if we can manage the land differently. Scotland has been at the forefront of driving this type of approach and it’s a large focus of our work here at The James Hutton institute. It includes measures to slow runoff and reduce soil loss from fields through river and floodplain restoration, with allied approaches like river woodland. Enhanced options also include soft engineering, such as wood placed in streams to create “leaky barriers” or rock and soil barriers designed to hold water back like temporary mini ponds that work even when soils are saturated. This also helps to create a more biodiverse landscape and can supplement those hard engineering options – so we don’t have to keep building higher walls or treating rivers like pipes with a primary aim of moving water quickly all the way to the sea. Larger flood events mean greater water storage requirements, but this should be possible, distributed appropriately across larger catchments – using new ideas around what’s called ‘adaptive storage’ on floodplains and in channels. Land alongside rivers, streams and ditches and the channel itself needs a natural storage capacity for when it rains and this can be done protecting, or even improving, adjacent farmland from impacts of prolonged wetting and erosion. But managing large floods at large scales is a challenge and we need every trick in the book. Such measures need a lot of land and a lot of it is privately owned. So we need to look at how we do flood risk management on private land, working with those stakeholders, as well as planners and local authorities. There isn’t a single simple answer. Massive storms, as recently seen, could not have been mitigated simply using land management measures and require adaptation of how we live alongside rivers and coasts, as well as reinforcing our respect for nature. For many, new approaches to manage and cope with floods will feel unfamiliar and daunting and may seem complex. We will need education around the solutions, collaboration across the public and private sphere and, importantly, community involvement. December 2023 15 By Professor Marc Stutter
A collaboration between soil specialists at the Hutton, animal health experts at Moredun Research Institute and the Equine Grass Sickness Fund is hoping to find clues to the origins of the deadly disease by comparing what’s in soil from a hot spot of EGS in Aberdeenshire with biological samples from actual cases. The work is one of the latest avenues being explored to unlock the cause of this debilitating disease, which was first recognised at an outbreak in an army camp near Dundee in 1907and is estimated to kill one in 200 horses in the UK every year. Processing of the samples at the Hutton has had initial support thanks to a £4,000 donation from Aberdeenshire business owner Emily Anderson, whose sister, Scottish Champion dressage winner Gillian Green’s warmblood horse Jed is one of the few to survive the disease. “It was a horrific experience to see Jed stuck with the chronic form of this terrible disease,” says Green, who is also manager of the National Soils Archive at the Hutton and is in charge of processing the samples. “He survived, thanks to a lot of support and effort from Emily, the stables and the wider community, but most don’t. Hunt for cause of deadly horse disease turns to Hutton soil science Efforts to discover the mystery cause of a devastating horse disease called equine grass sickness (EGS) have turned to soil science. 16 Hutton Highlights “By matching the soil samples with biological samples from horses that have contracted EGS, we hope modern techniques like environmental DNA (eDNA) could help to finally pinpoint the cause of this nightmare disease – or rule it out.” Gillian, Jed, Beth, Lorna, Little John and Emily
“By matching the soil samples with biological samples from horses that have contracted EGS, we hope modern techniques like environmental DNA (eDNA) could help to finally pinpoint the cause of this nightmare disease – or rule it out.” - Gillian Green, manager of the National Soils Archive at the Hutton December 2023 17 Dr Beth Wells, a research scientist at the Moredun who is collecting the samples using an approach designed by scientists at the Hutton, says, “For some time we’ve been taking a wider approach to EGS research, looking at the weather and environmental issues in particular. “Looking at soil is a relatively new avenue, but it is such a complicated factor to investigate, especially when we don’t know what we are looking for. That’s why I approached Professor Lorna Dawson at the Hutton to work on this puzzle with us. “Now, with this long-term approach, guided by the Hutton, and using modern analysis techniques, we have a chance to look for a cause in a controlled way. Depending on the findings, we are hopeful that it will fill in another piece of this complex jigsaw.” EGS damages horses’ nervous systems resulting in partial or complete paralysis of their intestines. Tens of thousands of horses have died from this devastating disease, including two young stallions at the lateQueen’s pony stud in Balmoral in 2018, forcing the estate to halt its breeding programme. Anderson, who also owns horses and who recently saw a close friend’s horse Woody die of the disease, sparking her donation to the cause, says, “All this work has to be funded and unless these samples are processed, they can’t be stored for future analysis and we could then still be in the dark and more horses will die, without us knowing why.” The soil samples are being stored in the National Soil Archive at the Hutton’s Aberdeen campus. It is a nationally important store containing around 60,000 soil samples from across Scotland enabling long term analysis of everything from soil health to carbon storage and now also EGS. The samples will form part of, and be matched with, horse samples held by the Equine Grass Sickness Biobank, run by Moredun, in partnership with the Equine Grass Sickness Fund, and funded by the British Horse Society. The Biobank project, which involves collecting the samples from EGS cases as well as healthy horses, for comparison, is running for three years, with the samples then maintained, for use by researchers and scientists, for up to 20 years. Want to learn more about this work? Listen to our podcast here. To support this project, click here
Hutton helping communities “Coevolve” with nature Hutton’s graduate research assistants - bridging the gap in social sciences Hutton researchers are working with a community-owned woodland in Aberdeenshire to explore how people can take a greater role in deciding what form solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises take in their local environments. Murray Park Community Woodland in Alford is one of seven sites across Europe and Scandinavia taking part in the £4.6 million “COEVOLVERS” programme, being run by a consortium including the Hutton in Aberdeen. Hutton researchers will work with the trustees of Murray Park Community Woodland, alongside other community groups and stakeholders, on ways to jointly manage the woodland over a period of four years. A strong focus will be on what are called nature-based solutions, that benefit nature and people while tackling issues like climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as digital technologies, like virtual reality tours, to help people visualise potential solutions, while making sure everyone can take part. “Nature-based solutions are often carried out at quite a high level and don’t always offer opportunities for the whole community to be involved,” says Leanne Townsend, senior social scientist, at the Hutton. “This can lead to a lack of inclusivity in the management of local natural resources such as community woodlands or parks. “Through this project, we’re looking to see how that can be changed. We’re looking at how we can involve a wider range of local views and look at how people view and value the nature around them. Then how that can feed into decision making and governance, so that both nature and local people benefit.” Murray Park is a community owned woodland, having been gifted by poet Charles Murray to the people of Alford in 1936. All the other sites in the COEVOLVERS project are either publicly or privately owned, which means it offers a unique opportunity to involve people in the process. The park, an area of mature mixed woodland with paths and walks, is open to the public and welcomes all who want to enjoy nature. Bridging the gap between university study and the world of work can be a big leap. It’s maybe not clear what you want to do – or you know what you want to do but are missing that vital gap in experience. That’s why the Hutton’s social, economic and geographic sciences department has taken in its latest graduate research assistants as part of an annual programme to help recent graduates take their first steps into the world of work. The scheme, set up in 2020, recognises that bridging the gap between university study and the world of work can be a big leap. Through the programme, four graduate research assistant positions are created to give recent graduates valuable experience. This includes working on interdisciplinary projects and supporting the delivery of a range of projects through data collection, analysis and presentation of research findings in an applied research setting. The Hutton’s graduate research assistants also have the opportunity to participate in and contribute to wider initiatives across the department. This year, we have welcomed Michael Bartram, Isabel Williams, Fiona Bender and Ellie Paterson, who have backgrounds in psychology, and come to the Aberdeen campus from studies in London, Dublin, Dundee and Aberdeen. We asked this year’s new cohort what attracted them to applying for one of the graduate research assistant positions, what they hope to learn and what the experience has been like so far. Find out what they said here. 18 Hutton Highlights
Our campus at Invergowrie is now host to our new Crop Storage and Postharvest Solutions (CSPS) facility, A partnership between The James Hutton Institute, ADAS, Crop Health & Protection (CHAP) and Natural Resources Institute (NRI) at the University of Greenwich, with capital investment secured by CHAP, from Innovate UK, and additional funding at the Hutton from the Scottish Government. One of the key elements of the work of the Advanced Plant Growth Centre, the CSPS is looking at how we store fresh produce until it is needed. We know that where and when we grow our crops impacts on how well they store and their ultimate quality, nutritional value, appearance and processability. However, climate change is making farming and therefore crop storage increasingly difficult and crop losses due to insufficient or poor storage can see anything from 5-20% of the initial crop production being lost, especially in developing countries. Our science is focusing on how temperature change affects speed of change, and also the affects of humidity and gas composition. Through this we are putting the crops into a nearsleep state, thereby maintaining the crop’s innate properties and controlling and disease present. Initial research priorities include development of pre- and post-harvest monitoring and modelling for prediction of storage potential; supply chain tracking monitoring with a focus on energy, research on opportunities for automation and labour saving and developing and potato sprout suppressant technologies plus testing novel, sustainable packaging materials. For more information, contact Professor Derek Stewart, Director of the Advanced Plant Growth Centre: derek. stewart@hutton.ac.uk. Watch the first potatoes going into the new CSPS facility: The Dundee Renewable Energy Society (DRES) launched a community share offer in early December to raise funds to construct and operate a solar meadow in the Bullionfield, owned by the Hutton in Invergowrie. The solar meadow will consist of 2.59 MW Solar PV panels and anticipates selling 94% of the electricity generated to the Hutton. DRES needs to raise £3 million to deliver this initiative and the first phase of this share offering ended 20 December. The second phase will be open to 30 April 2024, to give local people in particular, longer to engage. Speaking of the initiative, Alasdair Cox, Director of Operations said, “This is an exciting development for the Hutton and we are delighted to be working in partnership with DRES. It builds on our ambitious climate action plan where we are trying to increase our use of renewable energy. This scheme will deliver almost 20% of our energy requirements for the Invergowrie site.” For more information please go to: www.dres.coop. New crop storage facility at Invergowrie Solar meadow in Invergowrie to support Hutton route to net zero February 2022 19 December 3
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As context, the recently published State of Nature Scotland report 2023 showed that that Scottish wildlife had decreased on average by 15% since 1994 and that one in nine Scottish species is at risk of going extinct. Seabirds have been particularly badly hit, with a 49% decline between 1986 and 2019 – that’s before the tolls seen by the latest bird flu outbreak. It’s not positive reading, but we do now have a better understanding of what’s causing it. Specifically, the “Understanding the Indirect Drivers of Biodiversity Loss in Scotland” report points to factors which are indirectly contributing to nature loss in Scotland including our culture, education, demography, economy, political systems and technology. The report, supported by researchers at the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University, identifies ways to reduce the impacts of some of these contributing factors to help us move towards a future where we are living more in harmony with nature. Government, public bodies, schools, businesses, individuals and communities are highlighted as having a lead role to play. Recommendations include that policy makers and businesses move away from measuring performance based on levels of production and consumption and focus more on regenerative uses of the land and sea as part of a sustainable, circular economy. While this will require substantial adjustments, the report comments that these will be easier and less costly to people and businesses than passively adjusting to a worsening biodiversity and climate crisis. “A key conclusion I draw from this report is that the consequences of all of our actions, even apparently positive ones, can have global repercussions. These can be very complex to navigate. For example, replacing a forestry plantation with a native woodland could be seen as a win for biodiversity. However, where will the timber now come from? Professor Robin Pakeman, senior report author at the Hutton. “Effectively, ‘offshoring’ or pushing our impacts elsewhere where they cause even more problems, is a serious concern. There are many difficult choices, which can be made easier, as the report outlines. For example, we can reduce our use of unsustainable materials and cut energy consumption that degrades the natural world.” NatureScot’s Director of Nature and Climate Change, Nick Halfhide says: “With the forthcoming consultation on the Scottish Government’s Biodiversity strategy to 2045: tackling the nature emergency, the importance of halting biodiversity loss by 2030 is laid bare. “Tackling these underlying contributions to nature loss will be essential for a just transition to a net zero and nature-rich economy, both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to increase resilience to the impacts of a changing climate. “This important report from the James Hutton Institute points to the wider challenges we face in reconciling the great range of policies and actions to achieve a thriving future for our natural environment, economy and wellbeing.” Alongside Professor Pakeman, the report authors were Dr Antonia Eastwood (now at the RSPB), Dr Dominic Duckett (now at Glasgow Caledonian University), Dr Kerry Waylen and Dr Jonathan Hopkins from the Hutton and Dr David Bailey from the University of Glasgow. Read more – nine ways we can help reverse nature-loss in Scotland: Addressing nature loss – a Scottish opportunity Access the full report: NatureScot Research Report 1309 - Understanding the Indirect Drivers of Biodiversity Loss in Scotland Considerable change needed to stop nature loss in Scotland December 2023 21 Professor Robin Pakeman Many of the direct causes of biodiversity loss are well-known such as pollution, climate change and land use change. Now a new report led by the Hutton, commissioned by NatureScot, says that tackling these direct causes is not enough.
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