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My research interests focus predominantly on understanding and optimising the productive efficiency of ruminant production systems (mainly beef and sheep, but also dairy). My key interests include: Optimising feed efficiency of production systems. Characterising greenhouse gas outputs from ruminant production systems. Reducing the environmental impact of beef production systems (improved efficiency, mitigation strategies). Precision livestock farming solutions across and range of production systems (intensive through to extensive systems). My work involves the development and use of technology
Plant, Soil, Water Interactions: To identify the interactions between plants and soils that can be exploited to achieve food security and sustainable production of sufficient, safe and nutritious food. Crop yield and quality, biodiversity, and soil health are largely determined by the interactions between plant roots and the soil. The focus is on understanding, and modelling, the physical, chemical and biological interactions between plant roots, soil and water, which could improve crop and grassland production efficiency and sustainability.
This scoping study explored the extent of the gender pay gap in rural Scotland, how it has changed over recent years, and potential reasons that might explain its extent and fluctuations over time. The project involved a review of existing literature on the gender pay gap, focusing particularly on rural areas, and a review of secondary data on the extent of the gender pay gap in urban and rural Scotland. The study built on the Scottish Government’s February 2018 report on ‘ Understanding the Scottish Rural Economy’, which highlighted that the gender pay gap is highest in absolute terms in
The aim of this research is to understand the importance of factors that modify reliance on pesticides and integrate these into Integrated Pest Management (IPM) toolboxes tailored to key Scottish horticultural and arable crops. Novel control options, which reduce reliance on pesticides, are required because of reduced availability of plant protection products. IPM tools are being developed and evaluated in optimised combinations to suppress key pest and disease threats for each cropping system. This work integrates contributions from other areas of research e.g. new varietal resistance, pest
The overall aim is to improve detection of economically important pests/pathogens/diseases affecting key Scottish crops. This will improve decision making for growers and control recommendations and inform policy and statutory recommendations, leading to improved disease control. Much of the research capitalises on outputs from the previous RESAS programme and externally funded research. The initial focus is primarily on developing/improving the necessary assays, tools and techniques. Subsequently, new detection methods will either be validated and incorporated directly into relevant IPM
Improved risk management and control of plant diseases: to be achieved through an understanding of key epidemiological parameters and optimal ways of manipulating them. These parameters underpin the development of epidemiological models that can be used to predict the effect of management strategies, including crop protection and host resistance. This work aims to define the parameters for problematic and economically important diseases of crops of particular importance to Scotland in order to deliver practical disease control solutions.
A major constraint on achieving food security is crop loss due to pests and diseases. The main aim of this work is to develop a better understanding of the plant-pest interactions that threaten arable crop production in Scotland and elsewhere. Understanding the mechanisms that pathogens use to invade and colonise host plants, in parallel with the processes by which plants resist infection, will provide key insights to drive long term plant protection strategies. Within the EU, there has been a drive for sustainable agriculture with reduced inputs, a consequence of which has been reduction in
The main activities will focus on barley, wheat, potato and soft fruit, the crops of major importance to the Scottish economy. For each crop, the spectrum of capabilities is linked into translational crop genomics pipelines that ultimately deliver improved cultivars. Underpinning research in all projects will be the continued development of novel technologies and approaches including custom platforms for genomic and functional characterisation of important traits. Improvements in genome sequencing and annotation, high-throughput genetic analysis and trait analysis capabilities will allow