Hutton Highlights, September 2019

Contents 04 Institute outlines plans for open science campuses 06 Awards, Accolades & Appointments 08 Pea gin: how your G&T could help save the rainforest 10 International research effort maps global distribution of soil nematodes 12 Is Scotland on target for 2030? 14 Events Round-up 2019 16 Royal Highland Show 18 Human activity means peatlands contribute to climate change 20 Scotland from the air 22 SEFARI Gateway – opportunities aplenty 09 17 08 14 2 Hutton Highlights September 2019 3 The James Hutton Institute magazine team Gillian Stirton, Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo, Adam Walker, Sarah Horne 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 Working together is the way forward Welcome to our latest Hutton Highlights where we feature several new pieces of work reflecting Hutton’s impact both in Scotland and Internationally. We have just completed a summer of events, engaging with people from across Scotland at the Royal Highland Show and with the industry at our field events Potatoes in Practice, Arable Scotland and Fruit for Future. These are great opportunities to showcase our work, that of our SEFARI partners and to listen to others’ ideas, problems and opportunities. We are very proud of the way our colleagues interact with the general public, stakeholders and visitors at these events and get great feedback on them and what we do. It is also good to celebrate staff achievements too and share their success. We aim to collaborate and share ideas even more actively. Our plans to operate as Open Access science campuses are gaining momentum with positive feedback on proposed developments and more partners and collaborators seeking to join us. More broadly, climate change problems are now the subject of mass protest and pan-global government action. At Hutton, we continue to promote solutions based on our science in several of the case studies featured here. Enjoy the newsletter and as always, we are always pleased to get feedback and hear your perspectives on any of the issues or things we do. Comments? SEFARI activity Introduction Professor Colin Campbell, Chief Executive of The James Hutton Institute /company/james-hutton-institute SEFARI Gateway’s new funding calls are outlined in a feature in this edition of Highlights and they have had a busy summer showing stakeholders what’s going on within the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme. Gateway’s promotional activity around the Strategic Research Progamme extends to having exhibited over the summer at events spanning the breadth of Portfolio research including Arable Scotland, The Natural Capital Summit (London), the Rural Entrepreneurship Conference and an impact event at the Royal Highland Show. Looking forward, the team will also be active at Science and Parliament on 20 November and are hosting a “Match” table to meet with sector stakeholders at Food Matters Live on 19-20 November. SEFARI is also sponsoring the SAGES Conference “Global Climate Challenges for a Blue Green Economy - Evidence, Relevance, Solutions” which is a superb opportunity for to engage with policy and wider stakeholders in response to the Climate Emergency. Project Summary Pages for the Strategic Research Programme went live on the SEFARI website in July and link with the Directory of Expertise. They remain under active development but have already proved useful in promoting the SRP. Over the coming months work will further add functionality and greater accessibility.