Hutton Highlights, September 2018

Ilana Halperin - ‘James Hutton (Parent Material) 2017’ News Highlights Comments? 4 Hutton Highlights Hutton team best in the world in clay mineralogy September 2018 5 Hutton researchers have been named winners in a contest which is considered the ‘world championship’ in mineralogy. The results and the winners of the 2018 Reynolds Cup were presented at the Annual Clay Minerals Society meeting in Urbana- Champaign. Professor Steve Hillier, Helen Pendlowski, and Dr Ian Phillips were awarded first place in the ninth round of the international contest. The competition, named after Robert C. Reynolds for his pioneering work in quantitative clay mineralogy, was established in 2000 and is held biennially. It aims to promote and improve quantitative mineral analysis, and this year there were 88 entrants from 28 countries with 73 organisations submitting results. As part of the contest, organisers send three artificially prepared clay-bearing mineralogical samples to individuals in commercial, industrial, government or academic laboratories challenging them to obtain the most accurate quantitative mineralogical analysis by any method or combination of methods they choose. The team at the Institute have a long and successful history in the competition, having won it in 2008. They have also gained great success in previous years achieving a top three spot in all but the 2010 contest; only because the previous winners traditionally prepare the samples for the following contest. After being crowned winners they will once again prepare the samples for the next competition in 2020. “We’re always looking to improve our methods and our participation in the Reynolds Cup has helped to keep us at the leading edge, internationally, of the development of quantitative mineralogical analysis of soils and rocks. We use the same methods in our academic research programme and they are also offered as a service to commercial customers, where we believe the quality of our data allows them to have more confidence in the business decisions they make” said Steve Hillier. Steve’s team work to develop methods to quantify clay minerals, as a tool to understand the properties of soils. It continues a long and distinguished history of clay research at the James Hutton Institute, and indeed a long history of commercial work connected with clay mineralogy since the advent of the oil industry in Aberdeen. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has produced a video case study which illustrates how the James Hutton Institute contributes to the UK Government’s long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. The video features interviews with professors Colin Campbell and Derek Stewart, as well as appearances by several colleagues from around the Institute. For more information on the UK Industrial Strategy visit BEIS website . Hutton innovation featured in BEIS video New York-born Halperin trained there as a stone carver but later moved to Glasgow, graduating from Glasgow School of Art in 2000. She now lives and works in Glasgow. Much like James Hutton, she has a deep interest in geological phenomena and her work is predominantly focused around connections between geological time and human time. Given that Slighhouses is where Hutton started to formulate his concept of deep geological time, Halperin was delighted to be able to use these particular soil samples to reflect exchanges between places and timescales that go beyond human lifespans. The print shows the layers as they occurred in the soil profile which itself is the result of over 10,000 years of soil development. The artist and the printmaker had to experiment with different sizes of soil particles and solvents to create the ‘inks’ used to make the print, which is printed on handmade Japanese Yame Washi paper and of which only three examples exist. The work is currently on display in the reception area at Hutton Aberdeen. The James Hutton Institute’s application for independent research status with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has been successful. The Institute is now eligible for funding with all UK Research Councils and the new Independent Research Organisation status (IRO) is valid for at least the next five years. This means a great deal to Hutton as such a large proportion of the UK research funding is distributed via UKRI, including international funding and innovation funding, as well as standard grants, fellowships and studentships. This funding is highly competitive and new guidance for staff applying will ensure the very best scientific ideas and high-quality proposals are submitted. This success recognises the excellent science carried out at Hutton. The application was the product of many people helping to describe the merits of our science and its relevance to the mission and vision of UKRI and involved many staff, the board, and external supporters who gave advice and assistance to ensure we had the opportunity to apply. This has overturned an inadvertent anomaly that had previously excluded Hutton from direct access to Research Council funding. The new situation puts Hutton on an equal basis to other institutes. Our distinctive approach to doing inter-disciplinary research is well aligned with the ambitions and scope of UKRI. New Independent Research Organisation status The James Hutton Foundation has recently acquired a woodblock print created using soil samples originally collected from James Hutton’s Berwickshire farm, Slighhouses. Artist Ilana Halperin approached the National Soils Archive which is held at the Institute’s Aberdeen site as part of a project to highlight the historical connections between Japan and Aberdeen. Ilana Halperin’s ‘James Hutton (Parent Material) 2017 The expertise in clay mineralogy at the James Hutton Institute is also central to the successful short course ‘Clay Mineralogy and its application to the oil industry’. It helps primarily oil and gas industry staff understand the nature, properties, behaviour and occurrence of clays in the context of hydrocarbon exploration and production, though previous participants from many industries where clay is important have attended. Via a hands-on approach in the laboratory delegates are taught how clay minerals can be identified and characterised using the primary analytical techniques of X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy. The course will run again in October 2018; see our website for more information. “We’re always looking to improve our methods and our participation in the Reynolds Cup has helped to keep us at the leading edge, internationally.” Professor Steve Hillier, leader of the Hutton clay mineralogy team The Reynolds Cup is considered the ‘world championship’ in mineralogy