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Diana Valero is a social scientist working as MDT Fellow in Rural Water Security working in the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences (SEGS) research group at the James Hutton Institute.
Her educational background is in political science, local development and rural policy.
Prior to joining The James Hutton Institute in 2021 she carried out postdoc research at the University of Stirling and in the Centre for Mountian Studies at the University of the Highlands and Islands. Diana earned her PhD from the University of Valencia in Spain.
I am a Senior Researcher working in the application areas of :
Policy modelling (and the identification of unintended policy outcomes)
Habitat restoration – Carbon sequestration – Biodiversity offsetting
Natural capital accounting and investment vehicles,
Community-and ecosystem-based climate change adaptation, and
Food systems.
I do this work, at my desk and – most happily – in the field, by developing and applying novel techniques for:
Dr Andy Kindness is the leader of The James Hutton Institute's Environmental and Biochemical Sciences group.
Dr Kindness’ joined the Institute from Aberdeen University’s School of Natural and Computing Sciences, where he coordinated a postgraduate MSc in Oil & Gas Chemistry, was responsible for recruitment of students for this course and helped develop curricula, increased industry interaction, student numbers and student satisfaction.
Ruth joined the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department as a social scientist in 2017. Her research focuses on rural and island communities and what helps them to thrive – socially, economically and culturally. Ruth currently works on projects that aim to support a green and resilient recovery process, including coordinating action research-based case studies in rural and island communities across Scotland.
Maddy is a soil microbial ecologist and biogeochemist in the Plant-Soil Interactions (PSI) research group within Ecological Sciences, James Hutton
I am an environmental economist with a background in ecology. I am interested in environmental conservation, and particularly how this integrates into multi-use landscapes, and how to include the needs of varied stakeholders. I use methods such as stated preference modeling and cost-effectiveness analysis to consider available options for land management, taking account of socio-economic as well as environmental needs.
Alice is a Senior Environmental Social Scientist in the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department. Alice’s research focuses broadly on
I am a research assistant in qualitative methods working in the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Department. I have a BSc in Environmental Sciences at the University of Valencia and an MSc in Social-Ecological Resilience for Sustainable Development at Stockholm Resilience Centre. My research focusses on the governance of natural resources, in particular stakeholder participation in decision-making. A second strand of interest relates to how people connect to nature, and the use of creative and narrative methods for understanding as well as supporting these interactions.