Research review - University of the Highlands and Islands

[
Research
review
2015
2 | Research Review
[
Introduction
from Clive Mulholland,
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
I
am delighted to introduce
the university’s second annual
Research Review.
This year has seen us build upon
our exceptional results in the 2014
Research Excellence Framework
exercise, in which over 69% of the
research we submitted was judged to
be internationally excellent or worldleading. This reveals that where we
draw our inspiration from the natural
environment, culture, industries and
social infrastructure of our region, we
can demonstrate research outputs with
national and international significance
and impact.
In 2015 we published our second
Strategic Vision and Plan, to guide
our development and measure our
performance over the next five years.
One of three themes which underpin
our plan is focused research.
This review details just some of the
recent and ongoing projects being
led by our teams throughout the
university partnership and in a range
of disciplines. You can also read about
some of our dedicated researchers and,
should you wish to learn more about
their work, contact them directly.
“We can demonstrate
research outputs with
national and international
significance and impact.”
www.uhi.ac.uk | 3
4
6
8
10
Robots exploring
deepest ocean zones
Contemporary imaginaries
of Scotland’s national dishes
A major marine
energy study
Sustaining Gaelic as a
living language
12
14
16
18
Gathering data
for key fish species
Putting the Flow Country
peatlands on the map
[
Contributions
to the land reform debate
Selected
key projects
Contents
Published by the University
of the Highlands and Islands,
a limited company registered
in Scotland No.148203.
Registered Scottish Charity
No. SC022228.
Registered office:
12b, Ness Walk,
Inverness, IV3 5SQ.
© University of the Highlands
and Islands 2016.
4 | Research Review
Until now, it has been
extremely difficult to
investigate what actually
happens in the extreme deep.
Robots
exploring
deepest
ocean zones
Professor Ronnie Glud
www.uhi.ac.uk | 5
A highly productive Danish
biogeochemist with more
than 160 peer-reviewed and
widely cited publications,
Professor Ronnie Glud
investigates how life and
chemistry interrelate in
the ocean.
Scientists based at SAMS UHI
in Oban are pioneering the
use of custom-built robots to
discover how life is sustained
thousands of metres below
the ocean’s surface.
T
he Hades Project, led by
Professor Ronnie Glud,
is unique in that it aims
to study and sample
organisms in their own
environment, at depths of
up to 11 kilometres below
sea level. These extreme ocean regions,
known as ‘hadal zones’, occur where one
plate of the Earth’s geological crust slides
underneath a neighbouring plate, forming
deep trenchesin the seafloor.
Until now, it has been extremely difficult to
investigate what actually happens in the
extreme deep. Organisms that are removed
from these environments and studied in
a laboratory will inevitably be affected
– and potentially killed – by extreme
changes in pressure which occur during
sample recovery. In onboard laboratories,
researchers generally only study organisms
that can withstand recovery - yet these are
not necessarily the most important species
in that particular environment.
As part of the five-year project, three
purpose-built robots will explore three sites
in the Pacific Ocean. These are the Atacama
Trench off Chile (with a maximum depth
of 8,068 metres), the Japan Trench, south
and east of Japan (maximum depth 9,504
metres) and the Kermadec Trench, north
of New Zealand (maximum depth 10,047
metres). The trenches were selected as
they are expected to receive very different
amounts of organic matter due to varying
nutrient conditions in the overlying
surface waters and different physicaloceanographic conditions.
Previous expeditions led by Professor Glud
– most notably to the Mariana Trench, the
deepest part of the global ocean – have
revealed that such zones concentrate
large amounts of sedimentary material
and sustain surprisingly high levels of
biological activity.
Even though the trenches represent only
about two per cent of the world’s oceans,
they are thought to have a relatively large
impact on the marine carbon balance and
therefore the global carbon cycle. The aim
now is to investigate how life is sustained
at these depths and how its activity affects
the biogeochemical functioning of the
oceans and the Earth.
His work includes investigations of how climate
changes affect the marine Arctic, with special
emphasis on ocean productivity and the
atmospheric exchange of carbon dioxide.
His research explores the cycling of organic
matter, nutrients and greenhouse gases in all
corners of the aquatic environment.
Developing and deploying novel technologies
such as sophisticated in situ seabed landers,
microsensors and imaging techniques enables
Prof Glud to investigate microbial processes
in otherwise inaccessible and hostile
surroundings like sea-ice, hot springs and
deep-sea environments.
In 2011 Prof Glud led the world’s first
investigation of the biogeochemistry at the
bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest
part of the global ocean. To explore the role
of ocean trenches in carbon cycling, Prof Glud’s
international team developed instrumentation
that could perform autonomous measurements
under the enormous pressures exerted by
10.9 kilometres of seawater above.
Prof Glud joined SAMS UHI in 2007 from the
University of Copenhagen. He now divides
his time between SAMS UHI and the Nordic
Center for Earth Evolution at the University of
Southern Denmark.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01631 559000
6 | Research Review
The university’s Centre for Recreation and
Tourism Research is a partner in Gastrocert,
a project examining the touristic promotion
of local gastronomy as a way of enhancing cultural,
social, environmental and economic sustainability.
W
hile focusing on
the promotion of
Scottish gastronomy,
our researchers
are working with
partners undertaking
complementary research in Sweden,
Spain and Italy.
The study will draw on sociologies of
consumer behaviour, geographies of scale
and attitudes toward food, place
and culture to make sense of
contemporary constructions
of Scotland’s food identity.
While ultimately seeking
to identify the ways
in which cultural
heritage might be
promoted through
the appreciation of
local-regional food
Contemporary
imaginaries
of Scotland’s
national dishes
…there is a sense that Scotland’s
identity is being appropriated
through ‘lowbrow’ foods,
such as the infamous deep-fried
Mars bar.
Dr Peter Varley
BA (Hons), PhD
www.uhi.ac.uk | 7
Dr Peter Varley is director of
the Centre for Recreation and
Tourism Research, based at
West Highland College UHI.
and sustainability benefits of promoting
locally caught and produced seafood as
a dimension of the nation’s food identity.
Discussions around what might constitute
Scottish gastronomic heritage are common.
Alongside more traditional understandings
of Scottish gastronomy, such as haggis,
shortbread and whisky, there is a sense that
Scotland’s identity is being appropriated
through ‘lowbrow’ foods, such as the
infamous deep-fried Mars bar.
The town of Mallaig was historically the
busiest herring fishing port in Europe, and
prides itself on its famous smoked kippers.
However only one traditional smokehouse
remains. While Mallaig’s identity and the
fishing industry remain deeply entwined,
tastes have evolved to favour imported fish
species, such as cod.
Deep frying a high-calorie snack could be
regarded as emblematic of the diet of a
nation notorious for high levels of obesity,
heart disease and diabetes. Yet the dish is
extremely popular with visitors, eager to visit
the fast food outlet credited with inventing
the dish – perhaps with some sense of irony –
but also as a pilgrimage to sample something
contemporary and authentically Scottish.
While acknowledging the complexity of food
systems, there is evident cultural justification
for promoting west coast seafood as a local
food rooted in the history, tradition and
identity of the area. Sustainability benefits
extend beyond cultural and economic
dimensions; kippers caught in Scottish waters
are identified on the Marine Conservation
Society’s list of sustainable ‘fish to eat’.
He established the centre in 2012, introducing an MSc
in Ecotourism in 2015. Before joining the university,
Dr Varley lectured in marketing at Manchester
Metropolitan University for over 12 years.
He gained a BA (Hons) in Business Studies from the
University of Huddersfield and completed a PhD in
Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University,
based on the liminal experience of sea kayaking.
Dr Varley’s research explores the potentials of
ethnographic approaches to the study of health
experiences in relation to natural landscapes,
and the conceptual and applied development of
‘slow adventure’ – an alternative form of tourism
emerging in response to mass tourism.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 07764 580664
Dr Anna de Jong
BA, BSc (Hons), PhD
systems, the team is also keen to explore
ambiguities between broadening tourist
markets and perceptions of national identity.
In contrast, Scotland’s world-class seafood
attracts less attention. The majority of
fish currently caught in Scottish waters
is exported, while most fish eaten here is
imported. This points to the potential cultural
Dr Anna de Jong’s research
examines the potentials
and politics involved in
promoting Highland larder
as a way of enhancing
regional sustainability.
In recognising these touristic possibilities,
the Gastrocert project team will work with
local food businesses to examine ways of
promoting local produce to broader tourist
markets, to enhance the sustainability of
Scotland’s remoter regions.
A post-doctoral researcher at the centre, her
published research has included studies into the role
of cultural sustainability in enabling young people
to continue living in regional areas, and the role
of Pride parades as spaces for the performance
of alternative forms of activism.
Dr de Jong obtained a BA in Philosophy,
a BSc (Hons) in Human Geography and a PhD
in Human Geography from the University of
Wollongong, Australia.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01397 874308
[
8 | Research Review
A major marine
energy study
The Highlands and Islands is home to a
unique combination of natural resources
that make it a primary development
location for an emerging marine renewable
energy sector, encompassing tidal, wave
and ocean wind power.
T
hrough MERIKA, the Marine
Energy Research Innovation
and Knowledge Accelerator,
funded by the European
Union Seventh Framework
Programme, the university
is capitalising on the
development and research needs of
the sector, to realise its ambition to
become a European Marine Energy
and Innovation Hub.
Three of the university’s academic partners,
each research-active in the sector, are
delivering the project. These are Lews
Castle College UHI, the Environmental
Research Institute at North Highland
College UHI and SAMS UHI. The project
focuses on four key activities – knowledge
exchange, infrastructure upgrade, European
engagement and innovation.
Knowledge exchange is delivered through
an extensive bi-lateral staff exchange
programme with seven leading European
research institutions who are partners in
MERIKA. The programme consists of a range
of inbound and outbound secondments
that help to foster collaboration networks,
integrate our marine renewable energy
research teams across the European
Research Area, and provide a
springboard for new joint
research activities.
www.uhi.ac.uk | 9
Dr Philip Gillibrand PhD
Knowledge exchange is delivered
through an extensive bi-lateral
staff exchange programme with
seven leading European research
institutions…
Dr Philip Gillibrand is a
senior research fellow at the
university’s Environmental
Research Institute, based at
North Highland College UHI,
where he leads the Renewable
Energy and the Environment
research theme.
The exchange programme is underpinned
by three science excellence research
pillars, reflecting the multidisciplinary work
undertaken at our three partner locations,
and linking natural and social sciences
competencies with the key development
challenges faced by the sector. These are:
He is a physical oceanographer with interests
in hydrodynamic and bio-physical modelling of
the coastal zone, and the application of these
models, together with observational data, to
understand the dynamics and behaviour of
coastal systems.
• Tidal resource and wave climate
assessment, device-environment
interaction (including turbulence and
array effect), weather windowing and
wave forecasting
He has published papers on the circulation,
exchange and deep water renewal of Scottish
fjords; the Scottish coastal current; the
environmental impacts of finfish aquaculture;
tsunami inundation and coastal oceanography
in New Zealand; and numerical methods of
hydrodynamic modelling.
• Understanding the effects of marine
renewable energy devices on the
environment and ecology
• Understanding the social, economic
and policy dimensions of marine
renewable energy.
MERIKA is also funding an infrastructure
upgrade that is adding significant physical
capacity to our three partner locations. The
upgrade focuses on providing state-of-theart equipment to support world-class marine
energy research at the university, which in
turn makes the Highlands and Islands an
attractive destination for researchers and
innovators in the field.
Staff exchange and infrastructure spend
programmes are supported by a series
of European engagement activities that
focuses on consolidating our position within
the international scientific community. In
particular this means building links with
institutions across the European Research
Area, as well as Technology Platforms, the
European Commission Directorates –
General and European Energy Research
Alliance – all key European Union
organisations involved in shaping the marine
renewable energy policy landscape,
and formulating the Horizon
2020 research agenda.
The innovation potential within the
emerging marine renewable energy sector
is significant, and MERIKA has supported
the development of innovation capacity
and innovation competencies across the
university. In particular, the project has
focused on consolidating and improving the
university’s policies around the protection
of intellectual property rights and improving
our commercialisation processes, as well as
enhancing our engagement with industry
as a result of our improved research,
infrastructure and innovation capacity.
The MERIKA project has received funding from
the European Union Seventh Framework
Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under
grant agreement n° 315925.
After graduating from the University of
Wales, Bangor, Dr Gillibrand joined the Marine
Laboratory in Aberdeen, where he modelled
the exchange and ventilation of fjordic sea lochs
and developed modelling tools to predict the
dispersion of contaminants and parasites from
salmon farms. He then moved to SAMS UHI and,
after a spell in New Zealand and Australia, joined
the Environmental Research Institute in May
2014 as part of the MERIKA team.
Dr Gillibrand’s current research focuses on the
estimation of tidal energy resource through field
observations and numerical modelling, and on
predicting the effects of tidal energy arrays on
the ambient flow and the potential implications
for the local environment and ecology. He
maintains a general interest in the development
and application of computer models to address
issues relating to the coastal ocean both in
Scotland and abroad. Since 2015, Dr Gillibrand
has been elected convenor of the Marine
Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland
Numerical Hydrodynamic Modelling Forum.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01847 889686
10 | Research Review
The University of the Highlands and Islands
is a partner in Soillse, a research collaboration
established to provide a much enhanced
research capacity to inform public policy
towards the maintenance and revitalisation
of Gaelic language and culture.
T
he Universities of Aberdeen,
Edinburgh and Glasgow are also
partners in the project, which
aims to pool Gaelic language
research capacity across the
participating institutions.
Researchers based at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
UHI, studying different aspects of Gaelic
language and culture, have published
influential research findings. These
are relevant both to sustaining Gaelic
as a living culture and to the broader
international debate on the chief cultural
question of the twenty-first century –
the challenge of sustaining global cultural
diversity and assisting the 7,000 existing
language groups to maintain their cultural
and linguistic integrity.
Sustaining
Gaelic as a
living language
Professor Conchúr Ó
Giollagáin PhD
www.uhi.ac.uk | 11
Professor Conchúr Ó Giollagáin
was appointed as Professor
of Gaelic Research at the
university in April 2014. He is
academic director of Soillse.
Since joining the university, Professor
Conchúr Ó Giollagáin has produced
two studies on issues related to Gaelic
and minority language vitality and to
the challenges of minority language
acquisition. He co-authored the Update
of the Comprehensive Linguistic Study of the
Use of Irish in the Gaeltacht: 2006–2011
and contributed to a related publication,
the Analysis of Bilingual Competence:
Language acquisition among young
people in the Gaeltacht.
These scientific studies depict the current
vulnerable condition of Irish-speaking
communities in the Irish Gaeltacht. The
first was based on an analysis of current
demographic data and the second is a
comparative linguistic study of spoken ability
in both Irish and English among young native
speakers of Irish in the Gaeltacht.
The two main issues which have emerged,
particularly in these studies, are that:
• minority language cultures require a
relativity high density or a critical mass
of active and socially-rooted speakers
in order to resist the social pressures
of assimilation into the majority
linguistic culture
• young minority language speakers
require a dynamic family and community
socialisation process, encompassing rich
and varied language inputs, in order
to become competent and functional
speakers of the minority language.
This study indicates that native speakers
of Irish exhibit a condition of unbalanced
bilingualism whereby language
competence in their second language,
English, outstrips their ability in their first
language, Irish.
The Soillse team is currently engaged in
The Islands Gaelic Research Project, an
ambitious project which aims to study
the current condition of Gaelic as a living
community language in the Western Isles.
A series of baseline studies will provide
valuable data and, arising from this, analysis
to inform language planning interventions in
support of island communities who wish to
participate in initiatives to bolster Gaelic.
This follows on from a study led by Dr Gillian
Munro on The State of Gaelic in Shawbost,
and complements work by Professor Hugh
Cheape on the ethnology of Gaelic culture
– demonstrating issues of continuity and
disruption in cultural transmission in both
historical and contemporary contexts.
…minority language cultures
require a relativity high density
or a critical mass of active and
socially-rooted speakers…
Prof Ó Giollagáin is a Dubliner who lived for
many years in various Irish-speaking Gaeltacht
areas. He has led extensive research projects
and postgraduate initiatives in language
planning and minority language culture and
sociology and he has written extensively on
issues concerning the sustainability of minority
cultures, especially the Gaeltacht communities
in Ireland.
Prof Ó Giollagáin previously lectured in the
School of Political Science and Sociology at
the National University of Ireland Galway
(NUIG) on the sociology of language, and has
recently been appointed Adjunct Professor to
the school. His teaching and research interests
include language planning, sociolinguistics
and linguistic anthropology. He was previously
head of the Language Planning Unit at NUIG’s
Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, where he
devised and led Ireland’s first MA programme in
Language Planning.
Prof Ó Giollagáin co-authored the governmentcommissioned Gaeltacht survey Comprehensive
Linguistic Study of the Use of Irish in the Gaeltacht
(2007). He also lectured in the Department
of Irish in St. Patrick’s College, Dublin City
University, and in the Department of Celtic
Studies in the Catholic University of Lublin,
Poland. He has contributed as an external
fellow of the National Institute for Regional
and Spatial Analysis, National University of
Ireland Maynooth, where he participated in a
variety of research projects examining different
aspects of the language dynamics and linguistic
anthropology of minority language culture.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01471 888558
12 | Research Review
W
The effective management of fish stocks in
European waters is highly dependent on the
quantity and quality of data available during
the stock assessment process.
hile some species in
the northern North Sea
are considered to have
detailed and robust stock
assessments, a number of
key commercial species
currently lack the data
required to undertake quantitative analytical
assessments. In some instances, data on key
biological parameters such as growth and
maturity, essential for the management of
stocks, is also required.
The fisheries research team at NAFC Marine
Centre UHI identified a number of species
of significant local and international
importance that were lacking in key fishery
Gathering
data for key
fish species
Dr Paul Macdonald
BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD
www.uhi.ac.uk | 13
As fisheries manager at NAFC
Marine Centre UHI, Dr Paul
Macdonald manages the
centre’s four research vessels
and associated research and
survey activity.
Research within the centre’s fisheries section
primarily focusses on studies that assist in the
effective management of fishery resources,
enabling these resources to be exploited in a
sustainable manner while providing economic
stability to local communities.
and/or biological data. From those, six species
– hake, ling, lemon sole, megrim, anglerfish
and plaice – were identified as being among
the most important commercial species that
required further study. The team undertook
a two-year research project, funded by the
Scottish Government in 2013/14 and the
European Fisheries Fund in 2014/15, aimed at
filling some of the key biological and fishery
knowledge gaps for these species.
Over a two-year period, two fisheries
observers undertook research trips on
commercial fishing vessels in the northern
North Sea in order to collect fishery and
biological data. Key fishery parameters
including catch and discard composition
were recorded, as well as biological
parameters including length, weight, sex and
maturity. Reproductive tissue and otoliths
(ear bones used to determine the age of fish)
were also collected for further analysis.
Reproductive tissue was processed by
technical staff at the NAFC histology
laboratory and resultant data was used to
describe spawning seasons and provide
an estimation of length at maturity – an
important metric for estimating the spawning
potential of a stock.
Otoliths were removed from fish and
processed in the department’s fish ageing
laboratories. Three different methodologies
were used to process the otoliths in
preparation for age reading. Many species’
otoliths can be aged whole under a
microscope, by counting the annual rings.
For species such as hake, reading of whole
otoliths is difficult and a more accurate
estimation of age is made by taking a 0.6
millimetre cross section of otolith. Species
such as lemon sole require otoliths to be
broken in half across the nucleus and lightly
burned to make the annuli stand out. Growth
models were then fitted to the age data for
each of the six species.
Data collected during the project
was submitted to Marine Scotland for
dissemination to relevant working groups
within the International Council for the
Exploration of the Seas. It is anticipated that
the data will be considered during stock
benchmarking exercises for each of the species
and will go some way to assisting in the
management of these important resources.
Many species’ otoliths can be
aged whole under a microscope,
by counting the annual rings.
Dr Macdonald’s research has contributed to
the assessment and management of a number
of commercially important fish species in the
northern North Sea. He has also developed novel
fishing gears that have enabled inshore fishing
vessels to diversify into more environmentally
friendly fishing methods.
His recent research projects have included
investigating the biology and ecology of key
demersal fish species in the North Sea, and
assessing the potential to develop an inshore cod
trap fishery with minimal discards in the Shetland
Isles. These projects are particularly relevant
in light of the forthcoming implementation of
the landing obligation, EU regulations aimed at
reducing the practice of discarding fish.
Dr Macdonald completed his BSc (Hons) degree in
Marine Biology at the University of Aberdeen in
2004, completing an MSc in Marine and Fisheries
Science at the university the following year. He
then joined NAFC Marine Centre UHI as a project
officer researching the potential of jig fishing
– automated hand lining. He completed a PhD
entitled Increasing understanding of a data poor
species to improve resource management: megrim
(Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis) in the northern North
Sea in 2014.
Dr Macdonald has a unique perspective on
fisheries science as, prior to attending university,
he worked for ten years as a fisherman in the
Western Isles.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01595 772331
14 | Research Review
M
ore radical land-use
change was initiated in
the 1950s due to post-war
timber shortages, and
around a fifth of all our
peatlands were covered
in coniferous plantations
by the 1980s. The Flow Country Peatlands
of Caithness and Sutherland, the largest
expanse of blanket bog in Europe, was
heavily damaged and fragmented.
For centuries, peatlands in the UK were
perceived as unproductive wastelands,
where burning and draining to increase
productivity was common practice.
Peatlands are the most efficient terrestrial
carbon store in the world: the Flow Country
peatlands alone hold about 400 metric
tonnes of carbon – roughly three times as
much as in all of the UK’s forests. The peat
itself, accumulated over the last 10,000 years,
is an invaluable ecological, climatological
and archaeological archive. In addition,
healthy peatlands regulate water run-off
and can contribute to flood mitigation. The
conditions that prevail in these landscapes –
constantly waterlogged, nutrient poor – also
mean they support unique, often highly
specialised biodiversity.
Putting the Flow
Country peatlands
on the map
Dr Roxane Andersen, PhD
www.uhi.ac.uk | 15
Dr Roxane Andersen is a
senior research fellow at the
university’s Environmental
Research Institute.
She leads the institute’s Water, Carbon and
Climate research theme and coordinates the
Flow Country Research Hub. She is vice-chair
of the Commission on Restoration for the
International Peatland Society and has recently
been appointed to Scotland’s National Peatland
Research and Monitoring Group.
However disturbed peatlands lose their ability
to perform all these functions, which bears a
significant cost to society. In the last decade,
it has been shown that this cost could
be alleviated by appropriate restoration.
Yet sound science is needed to support
and inform policy development related
to the sustainable use of peatlands, their
management and restoration.
In 2012, the university’s Environmental
Research Institute, the Centre for Ecology
and Hydrology and the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds (RSPB) initiated an
ambitious plan to address this. Dr Roxane
Andersen was appointed to coordinate a
new collaborative network of researchers
and stakeholders which aimed to establish
the Flow Country as a UK focal point of
contemporary peatland science: the Flow
Country Research Hub.
The institute organised and hosted three
research conferences, and began to produce
a quarterly newsletter. It also contributed to
Flows to the Future, a £4 million project led
by the Peatlands Partnership and funded by
Heritage Lottery Funds. The project supports
peatland restoration and the construction
of infrastructures at the RSPB’s Forsinard
Flows reserve.
In the last two years, Dr Andersen and the
institute’s peatland teams have taken part in
15 multi-partner research and consultancy
projects, evaluating changes in carbon stocks,
greenhouse gas emissions, water quality and
biodiversity following restoration. The hub
concept and activities have been presented
locally, nationally and internationally as a
model of collaborative research integrating
the interests of a diverse range of stakeholders.
Over the same period, the Flow Country
peatlands have been included in three global
research initiatives led by scientists in the
USA, Germany and Sweden. World leaders in
peatland ecology and restoration have visited
from Canada, Finland and Germany.
Originally from Canada, Dr Andersen completed
her PhD in 2009 and came to Scotland to work as
a post-doctoral research fellow with the James
Hutton Institute, where she investigated how
peatland microbial processes were affected by
contamination from Oil Sands processed water.
She also contributed to a review commissioned
by Scottish National Heritage on the potential
benefits of blanket bog restoration in Scotland,
published in 2014. Dr Andersen was appointed
to the Environmental Research Institute in
2012, to lead and develop our peatland
research programme.
The Flow Country peatlands are no longer
perceived as ’remote’ and ‘barren’: the
northern tip of Scotland is becoming a
globally strategic peatland research location.
The peat itself, accumulated
over the last 10,000
years, is an invaluable
ecological, climatological and
archaeological archive.
Her current research focusses on evaluating the
recovery of above and belowground processes
and diversity in restored systems. In Scotland,
she works in the Flow Country Peatlands and
on the cliffs surrounding the Dounreay nuclear
power plant. She is also part of a Canadian team
leading cutting-edge research on peatland
reclamation in the Oil Sands region of Alberta.
She has published in many international journals,
and contributed to several book chapters.
In 2015, she co-organised a symposium on Global
Peatland Restoration for the Society of Ecological
Restoration’s world conference in Manchester,
and organised and hosted the 3rd Flow Country
Research Conference in Thurso. She is currently
collaborating with National Geographic on a
feature article and film on Scottish Moors.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01847 889572
16 | Research Review
S
The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill,
introduced to the Scottish Parliament
in 2015, challenges all landowners to
consider the impacts of management
decisions on communities.
ince 2007, research staff and
students at the Centre for
Mountain Studies, based at
Perth College UHI, have been
carrying out research on the
various impacts of landowners’ actions
on the environment, economies and
communities of upland Scotland. Much
of this work has fed into research
and policy discussions surrounding
contemporary land reform.
An influential five-year study by the
centre, Sustainable Estates for the 21st
Century, looked at the complex driving
forces that influence large upland estates,
and how their owners and managers
ensure that estates fulfil their diverse roles.
Contributions
to the land
reform debate
Dr Jayne Glass MSc,
MA (Oxon), PhD,
FHEA
Research
www.uhi.ac.uk
Review | 17
Dr Jayne Glass is an
interdisciplinary researcher
investigating humanenvironment dimensions
of land use in rural Scotland.
She has undertaken a range of theoretical and
applied research and consultancy projects,
focussing on land ownership and land reform;
rural estate management; community engagement
and stakeholder participation; sustainable land
use; and ecosystem services. Dr Glass was the lead
editor of ‘Lairds, Land and Sustainability: Scottish
perspectives on upland management’ (Edinburgh
University Press, 2013). She teaches on the
university’s MSc Sustainable Mountain
Development programme.
The results were published by Edinburgh
University Press in 2013, as Lairds, Land
and Sustainability: Scottish perspectives on
upland management. Subsequent work
with Scottish Land and Estates (SLE) and
stakeholders led to the production of a
booklet, Working Together for Sustainable
Estate Communities, which is now being
widely used, and forms the basis for SLE’s
Community Engagement programme.
In 2015, the centre worked with Scotland’s
Rural College (SRUC) to gain insights into
the social and economic benefits and
impacts of the grouse shooting industry
on rural communities. There has been
much recent publicity surrounding grouse
shooting. While there are benefits for the
local economy related to employment and
local business, concerns have also been
expressed about the negative influences
of this form of land management. The
study included a large household survey
across the Angus Glens and Monadhliath
mountains to analyse local communities’
perceptions of moorland management
and grouse shooting.
A key finding was that community support
is linked to recognition of community
benefits associated with the industry
and high general awareness of estate
management. Given ongoing demographic
change, such as in-migration, in many areas
of rural Scotland, community engagement
and involvement is likely to be of greater
importance in the future.
In a current project with SRUC for the
Scottish Government, we are exploring
examples of how diversity of land
ownership has led to different social,
economic and environmental outcomes in
rural communities. The project considers
the implications of large landholdings
for the communities that reside within
their boundaries. The focus is on size
of landholding, rather than tenure; we
have been gathering evidence on the
relationships of different patterns of
landholding size to social, economic and
environmental outcomes. Our principal
roles in the project have been to interview
key landowners, other businesses and
community representatives, and to ensure
wider community engagement through
focus groups.
...in many areas of rural
Scotland, community
engagement and involvement
is likely to be of greater
importance in the future.
Dr Ros Bryce BSc
(Hons), PhD
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01738 877876
Dr Ros Bryce has a background
in ecology and her research
interests now span the natural
and social sciences.
She has worked with interdisciplinary research
teams and has a strong track record in researching
the influences of social factors, such as values,
motivations and social networks, on decisionmaking and responses to environmental problems.
Dr Bryce has carried out research that seeks to
improve the integration of cultural ecosystem
services into environmental decision-making, as
well as understanding how environmental research
evidence is used in policy and practice. Much of her
work on biodiversity, ecosystem engineering and
invasive species management has been conducted
in the Scottish uplands, and she has also worked in
other parts of the UK and Europe.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01738 877267
18 | Research Review
Title
Selected
key
projects
Professor
Ian Bryden,
Vice-Principal
(Research)
Our exceptional results in
the most recent Research
Excellence Framework
exercise show strong
evidence of developing
research capacity across
a broad range of subjects,
some of which we have
captured within these
pages. Such developments
underpin current and
future economic activity in
the Highlands and Islands,
making a real difference
to the environment, to the
business community and
to people’s lives.
This table details a small
selection of additional
projects which began in
2015, some of which are
collaborations with
other institutions.
Project lead
Funder
Duration
Biological function of
chemically modified
natural products
Professor Ian Megson,
Department of Diabetes
and Cardiovascular Science
[email protected]
Jellagen
1 year
Biomanufacturing
an industrially relevant
marine biopolymer
Dr David Green, SAMS UHI
[email protected]
Industrial
Biotechnology
Innovation Centre
4 years
Developing genetic tools
for management of mussel
hatchery broodstock
Dr Lesley McEvoy,
NAFC Marine Centre UHI
[email protected]
Scottish Aquaculture
Innovation Centre,
Xelect
1 year,
2 months
Developing markers
for domestication in
Atlantic salmon
Professor Eric Verspoor,
Rivers and Lochs Institute
[email protected]
Biotechnology and
Biological Sciences
Research Council
2 years
Ecology of black guillemots
in relation to marine
protected areas and
marine renewable
energy developments
Elizabeth Masden,
Environmental Research Institute
[email protected]
MASTS/Scottish
Natural Heritage
3 years,
5 months
Eicosanoids as mediators
of nanoparticle-induced
cardiovascular disease
Phil Whitfield, Lipidomics
Research Facility and
Professor Ian Megson,
Department of Diabetes
and Cardiovascular Science
[email protected]
[email protected]
British Heart
Foundation
3 years
Establishment of a red
seaweed mari-culture
(RedWeed)
Dr Michele Stanley, SAMS UHI
[email protected]
Industrial
Biotechnology
Innovation Centre and
Highlands and Islands
Enterprise
4 years
Northern cereals –
new markets for
a changing environment
Dr Peter Martin,
Agronomy Institute
[email protected]
European Union –
Northern Periphery
and Arctic Programme
3 years
Northern exchange:
Cold War histories
and nuclear futures
Roxane Permar,
Shetland College UHI
[email protected]
Carnegie Trust
1 year
Remote monitoring of
HbA1c using dried blood
spot sample collection
Sandra MacRury, Rural Health
and Wellbeing Group
[email protected]
Chief Scientist Office
1 year,
3 months
SAICHATCH –
supporting the
development of a
commercial mussel
hatchery
Dr Adam Hughes, SAMS UHI
[email protected]
Scottish Aquaculture
Innovation Centre,
Xelect and Scottish
Shellfish Marketing
Group
3 years
The Dounreay nuclear
establishment and its
impact on the northern
Highlands of Scotland
Dr Jim MacPherson,
Centre for History
[email protected]
Arts and Humanities
Research Council
3 years
Zoonotic diseases
threatening the
Highland community
Dr Sarah-Anne Muñoz,
Rural Health and Wellbeing Group
[email protected]
European Space
Agency and
Robertson Trust
2 years