Doug Salt

Scientific Computing Specialist
Information and Computational Sciences
E: doug.salt@hutton.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)344 928 5428 (*)

Doug Salt did a degree in Mathematical and Computing Sciences during working as a professional software developer and engineer in mostly financial computing for about 25 years. He then subsequently earned a PhD in Information Theory, particularly with regards to the theory of databases.  Since 2016 he has been working at the Institute on knowledge engineering and  agent-based modelling of human-natural systems, and has worked on various international and interdisciplinary projects using agent-based modelling to study agricultural systems, lifestyles, and transitions to more sustainable ways of living.

Research

I specialise in agent-based modelling of socio-environmental systems, and rigorous approaches to their design and interpretation. Agent-based modelling involves explicit representation of individuals and their interactions, observing the emergent effects these have on the dynamics of the system. I am particularly interested in options for managing environmental change in coupled human-natural systems through incentive schemes, but in the context of other drivers of human behaviour. I have worked on agent-based modelling of lifestyles, pro-environmental behaviours and transitions to more sustainable ways of living, and current work continues this and is also examining value chains and resilience in Scottish rural systems.

A key issue in developing models of this kind is transparency, and I am interested in the role of formal ontologies in describing and annotating simulation models and experiments.

Past research

I have been involved the international and inter- and transdisciplinary research project, listed below

  • The GLAMURS(Green Lifestyles, Alternative Models and Up-scaling Regional Sustainability) project (2014-2016) was funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme.

Publications

Journals

Books / chapters

Technical / contract reports

  • Aitkenhead, M.; Gagkas, Z.; Pakeman, R.; Nijnik, M.; Gimona, A.; Glendell, M.; Donaldson-Selby, G.; McKeen, M.; Donnelly, D.; Jabloun, M.; Lozada-Ellison, L.; Salt, D.; Sideris, K.; Udugbezi, E. (2022) D52 Deliverable D11 Risk and Opportunities Assessment Framework Scope, Concepts and Structure, Technical report submitted to RESAS.
  • Dumitru, A.; Lema Blanco, I.; Albulescu, P.; Antosz, P.; Bouman, L.; Colley, K.; Craig, T.; Jager, W.; Macsinga, I.; Meskovic, E.; Mischkowski, N.; Pellegrini Masini, G.; Polhill, G.; Quinti, G.; Salt, D.; Somervail, P.; Wilson, R. (2021) Policy recommendations for each cluster of casestudies Insights from policy scenario workshops, SMARTEES Deliverable 5.2.
  • Pellegrini-Masini, G.; Albulescu, P.; Jager, W.; Löfström, E.; Macsinga, I.; Alonso-Betanzos, A.; Bouman, L.; Guijarro-Berdiñas, B.; Polhill, G.; Rodríguez-Arias, A.; Salt, D.; Sánchez-Maroño, N. (2021) Report on the updated theoretical framework for social innovation diffusion, SMARTEES Deliverable 6.2.
  • Bouman, L.; Antosz, P.; Jager, W.; Polhill, G.; Salt, D.; Scalco, A.; Alonso-Betanzos, A.; Sánchez-Maroño, N.; Guijarro-Berdiñas, B.; Rodríguez-Arias, A. (2021) Report on scenario development and experiments for selected cases, SMARTEES: Updated Deliverable 7.4 (Final Report).
  • Bouman, L.; Antosz, P.; Jager, W.; Polhill, G.; Salt, D.; Scalco, A.; Alonso-Betanzos, A.; Sánchez-Maroño, N.; Guijarro-Berdiñas, B.; Rodríguez-Arias, A. (2021) Report on scenario development and experiments for selected cases, SMARTEES: Updated Deliverable 7.4 (Final Report).
  • Wilson R.; Colley, K.; Somervail, P.; Polhill, J.G.; Craig, T.; Salt, D.; Scalco, A.; Tiru, L-G.; Albulescu, P.; Macsinga, I.; Pellegrini-Masini, G.; Löfström, E.; Jager, W.; Antosz, P.; Bouman, L.; Dumitru, A. (2021) Integrated overview of choice behaviour and energy transitions in SMARTEES case studies, Report for SMARTEES Deliverable 4.2
  • Antosz, P.; Jager, W.; Polhill, J.G.; Salt, D.; Scalco, A.; Alonso-Betanzos, A.; Sánchez-Maroño, N.; Guijarro-Berdiñas, B.; Rodríguez, A. (2020) SMARTEES simulation implementations for selected cases., SMARTEES Deliverable 7.3 (Report) , December 2020, 124pp.
  • Polhill, J.G.; Craig, T.; Colley, K.; Ge, J.; Sat, D. (2018) The SMARTEES Project and The James Hutton Institute’s potential contribution to the Torry Heat Network project., Appendix 10.4 in support of Torry Heat Network, Report to be presented to Aberdeen City Council.
  • Salt, D.; Polhill, J.G.; Craig, T. (2016) Deliverable 2.2: Report on the ontology generation and data and knowledge integration., Green Lifestyles Alternative Models and Up-scaling Regional Sustainability / GLAMURS EU SSH.2013.2.1-1 Grant Agreement No. 613420.
  • Salt, D.; Polhill, J.G.; Craig, T. (2016) Deliverable 2., Report for Glamurs Ontology Project.

Conference papers

  • Hare, M.; Salt, D.; Colasanti, R. ; Milton, R.; Batty, M.; Heppenstall, A.; Polhill, G. (2024) Taking Agent-Based Social Simulation to the Next Level Using Exascale Computing Potential Use Cases, Capabilities Threats, Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (AAMAS 2024), N. Alechina, V. Dignum, M. Dastani, J.S. Sichman (eds.), Auckland, New Zealand, May 6-10 2024, IFAAMAS
  • Heppenstall, A.; Polhill, G.; Batty, M.; Hare, M.; Salt, D.; Milton, R. (2023) Exascale Agent-Based Modelling for Policy Evaluation in Real-Time (ExAMPLER) (Short Paper), 12th International Conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience 2023), September 12-15, 2023, Leeds, UK. Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), 277, 38:1-38:5.
  • Salt, D.; Polhill, G.; Musk, C.; Milazzo, L.; Parker, D. (2023) Towards automated provenance collection for experimental runs of agent-based models, European Social Simulation Association Conference 2023, 4-8 September 2023, Glasgow
  • Hare, M.; Roxburgh, N.; Salt, D.; Polhill, G. (2023) Barriers and model curation issues associated with rapid adaptation of empirical legacy ABM in response to urgent policy maker queries , Proceedings of the Social Simulation Conference 2023, 4-8 September 2023, Glasgow.
  • Colley, K.; Craig, T.; Scholz, G.; Hague, A.; Wilson, R.; Polhill, G.; Salt, D.; Somervail, P.; Nazli Koseoglu, M.; Wooldridge, T. (2022) The role of individuals and households in the transition to a circular economy a social simulation approach, International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS) 2022 conference, online
  • Salt, D.; Polhill, G.; Craig, T.; Wilson, R.; Colley, K.; Pinker, A.; Scalco, A.; Muhammad, M. (2021) Modelling coconstructed scnearios of district heat network adoption in Aberdeen, Social Simulation Conference 2021, Online, 20-24 September 2021.
  • Polhill, J.G.; Salt, D.; Craig. T.; Wilson, R.; Colley, K. (2021) Sensitivity analysis of an empirical agent-based model of district heating network adoption., International Work Conference on Artificial Neural Networks, Online, 16-18 June 2021.
  • Salt, D.; Polhill, J.G. (2019) A NetLogo plug-in to secure data using GNUs pretty good privacy software suite., Social Simulation Conference (SSC 2019), Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany, 23-27 September 2019.
  • Polhill, J.G.; Hare, M.; Anzola, D.; Bauermann, T.; French, T.; Post, H.; Perello Moragues, T.; Salt, D. (2019) Using ABMs for prediction: Two thought experiments and a workshop., Social Simulation Conference 2019 (SSC2019), Johannes Gutenberg Universitaet, Mainz, Germany, 23-27 September 2019.
  • Salt, D.A.; Polhill, J.G. (2018) Building NetLogo models from ontologies as a first step to model integration., Social Simulation Conference (SSC) 2018, Stockholm, Sweden, 20-24 August 2018, 12 pp.
  • Salt, D.; Polhill, J.G.; Barbet, V.; Wang, Y. (2017) Formalizing Callon’s theory of translation., Proceedings of SSC 2017-ESSA@work, Dublin, 25-29 September 2017. Afternoon Session Norms-GM, 27 September 2017.
  • Polhill, J.G.; Salt, D. (2016) Metrics of complexity from FEARLUS-SPOMM runs., CSoS Workshop, Hotel de Nieuwe Wereld, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 21-22 April 2016.

Conference posters / abstracts