David is a principal scientist at the Moredun Institute, and has a longstanding interest in retroviral pathogenesis and his current research focusses on understanding the pathogenesis of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma and the development of diagnostic tests for controlling disease.
Andrew is a research leader in cell and molecular sciences at the James Hutton Institute. His current research interests include the production of novel diagnostics and vaccine candidates using plants, bacteria and nanotechnology; ciruclar bioeconomy, revalorization of waste streams and development of new biotechnologies; and involvement of nuclear domains and proteins in plant responses to virus infections and environmental cues.
Alison is a research leader in ecological sciences at the James Hutton Institute. Alison is an agroecologist with 20 years research experience in plant production and ecology, with a focus on agroecosystem biodiversity and pest biocontrol under reduced inputs and climate change. Her research interests are driven by the wider challenges of how to enchance ecosystem service provision in agroecosystems and optimise sustainable crop production.
This case study will summarise ongoing research on Teladorsagia circumcincta, one of the most common and economically important endemic parasites to control in sheep in the UK. SEFARI scientists have found that as temperatures gradually get warmer there could be a ‘tipping point’ where parasite burdens suddenly get a lot higher. Our scientists have also shown that climate change can increase parasite burdens, these parasite burdens can substantially drive-up greenhouse gas emissions, and ineffective parasite control can lead to further increases in emissions.
My long-standing interest in less-invasive techniques to study ruminant nutrition has developed into a range of projects looking at biomarkers in accessible samples - including milk, urine, faeces and breath. The work is highly relevant to two major technological developments in animal science (i) the need for cheap and high-throughput phenotyping to exploit new genomic information; and (ii) rapid advances in the use of monitoring and sensing equipment on-farm (precision livestock farming).
My overall research interest is to unravel the host animal genomic architecture affecting complex performance traits in livestock. At present my main research interest is to reveal the influence of the gut microbiome on methane emissions, feed conversion efficiency, meat quality, animal health and behavioural traits, and how the host animal shapes the microbiome associated with those traits.
There is still a lot of water to flow under the bridge before the scale and shape of future public funding to farmers and other land managers becomes clearer. But with Brexit rapidly approaching – and with each new model of theoretical scenarios suggesting that major changes to current support levels are inevitable – then one major topic of debate revolves around the suggestion that future support for land management will primarily be targeted at the provision of public goods.
SEFARI scientists, in collaboration with other research partners, provide evidence which informs the Scottish Government about the economic consequences of animal diseases. Our multi-disciplinary approach uses a mathematical and economic model to explore the winners and losers of Johne’s disease in the Scottish dairy herd. Our results indicate the extent to which both farmers of dairy herds infected with Johne’s and milk consumers, lose out as a result of the disease, while farmers of uninfected herds benefit.