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The 9th edition of The Spark, SEFARI Gateway’s Newsletter, an update on the latest research developments from the Scottish Government’s Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) strategic research programme.

This year's TB Macaulay Lecture will be delivered by globally renowned environmental expert, Professor Gretchen C. Daily on 10th September at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. In her lecture, she will describe how important it is to understand human dependence on nature, from the material basics such as nutrition, health, climate security and economic security, to the more ethereal concepts of belonging, beauty, and spirit. She will argue that being able to access and action this understanding is crucial when it comes to making the necessary transformations in society and in taking the decisions that are required to secure the biosphere and our human future.

SEFARI Gateway will have a stand at the event, so please come and have a chat with us before the lecture! 

More details and registration are available here.

This year's event focuses on the topic of future of STEM in Scotland. The event includes a speaker’s programme of key note speeches and panel sessions including with MSPs from across the political parties, an exhibition space where you can network with colleagues from across the sector, an awards ceremony for young people, and an early evening reception. 

Further details can be found here. Registration deadline is 17 November.

SEFARI & SEFARI Gateway will have a stand presence, so please come and visit us.

The event will be hosted by Professor Mathew Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) and will feature keynote addresses, breakout sessions, panel debate, networking and posters.

Objectives of the event:

• The event will provide an opportunity for researchers, including early career researchers, across the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Research Portfolio to showcase their research and highlight recent research outputs and impact. 
• This networking event will provide a forum for both researchers and policy makers from across the public sector to discuss key cross cutting strategic issues affecting Scotland’s environment, communities and rural economy.
• The event will enable policy colleagues to discuss with the research community policy priorities and potential future evidence needs.
• The event focus will be climate adaption and resilience.

As space is limited, attendance at the event is by invite only.

SEFARI Gateway are supporting the event and coordinating the posters exhibition, where 30 posters, featuring projects from the Strategic Research Portfolio, funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural Environment Science and Analytical Service (RESAS) and addresses key mid to longer-term challenges for Scotland’s environment, agriculture, land use, food and rural communities, will be presented at the event. 

Draft programme is available here.

A video game designed to explain the impact that human activities have on soil health and land use in Scotland was unveiled at Abertay University.

Students from the university’s Professional Masters in Games Development worked with the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA), and scientists from the James Hutton Institute and SEFARI Gateway worked to create ‘Stone & Veil’, an engaging real-time strategy and resource management game.

Set in Northeast Scotland, the game educates players about soil health and land use, as well as the area’s unique mythology, drawing on Pictish heritage.  

The brief set for the team was to help raise awareness and enhance understanding of land use for people who may not be familiar with the topics and the pivotal role of the land in our daily lives.

The game aims to highlight the complex value of land use and the impact of different forms of production on soil health.

By focusing on sustainable ecology, the game allows players to gain a better understanding of how land is deployed, with consequences for the future.

As part of their research, the development team visited the nearby Ardblair Standing Stones and walked part of the Cateran Trail.

Designed to be playable on a tablet or smartphone device, the game will be showcased at conferences and outreach events and hosted on the SEDA Land section of the SEDA website.

Student Marcus Young-Smith said:

“Working on Stone & Veil has been a great learning experience for the team, and we’ve gained a lot of valuable insights throughout the process, from discussing and agreeing the client brief, through to planning, designing and delivering the finished product. I hope that Stone & Veil can help people of different generations to engage with this important topic and the excellent work led by SEDA Land, the James Hutton Institute and SEFARI Gateway.”

SEDA Land is a Scottish registered charity focused on promoting a cultural shift in how we use and value land in Scotland with a view to achieving both a healthy ecology and a dynamic economy. It does this mainly by bringing together leading ecologists, scientists, land managers, and industry leaders, as well as artists, musicians, poets, and storytellers to consider all aspects of rural life – including biodiversity, climate, housing, communities, employment and health.

Founder of SEDA Land, Gail Halvorsen said:

"We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Marcus, Dom, Otto and all the entire Abertay team on the development of 'Stone & Veil’. It has been a fascinating experience, not least because of what it has taught us about the complexities of games development. SEDA Land is always on the look out for new ways of reaching new audiences who might not normally engage with ecological issues, and we are very optimistic that this exciting game will capture the imagination of young Scots."

Professor Lorna Dawson, senior soil scientist at the James Hutton Institute, and Knowledge Exchange Lead for Environment, SEFARI Gateway said:

“The game ‘Stone and Veil’ has in built information about soil, farming and the environment, where the player can gain knowledge of land use change though interactive decision-making play, as well as experiencing exciting challenges through contact with climatic events or the appearance of mythical creatures- both good and bad!”

Read more about the development of the game in the curvedflatlands blog.

Agriculture faces many challenges, including a warming climate, more frequent occurrence of extreme climate events and increased incidence and severity of crop diseases. Control of plant diseases with major resistance genes has not always proven durable and application of crop protection chemicals is becoming problematic with the development of pathogen insensitivity to the chemicals, as well as increased regulation.

Pathogens and pests, both established and newly emerging, represent major constraints to sustainable crop production. Crop losses due to biotic stresses amount to over 25% globally and present a major barrier for addressing the United Nations SDGs ‘No Poverty’, ‘Zero Hunger’, ‘Good Health and Well-Being’ and ‘Responsible Consumption and Production’.

This project (JHI-B1-1), funded by the Scottish Government through the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS) Division, brings together scientists at the James Hutton Institute working on plant pathogenic nematodes and oomycetes to develop a deeper understanding of pathogen biology to enable exploitation of potential weaknesses for developing future disease control in the important Scottish crops, potato and soft fruit.

Authors: Simon Gibson-Poole, Lorna Cole, Osla Jamwal-Fraser & Hernan Botero-Degiovanni

This report presents key findings and recommendations for improving agricultural practices in the North Highlands.

This year's topic is Food production, Security and Exports and the event is open to all with prior registration. During the event, soil science, food production, food quality, regulation, safety of processing and distribution will be discussed, plus the imperative of long-term supply security. The speakers will offer short, appropriately provocative presentations which will be followed by facilitated dialogue between the speakers and the audience. Supported by SEFARI Gateway, the event will include a presentation by Professor Lorna Dawson. More information about the event can be found on the RSA website.

A new network is setting sail to understand and tackle how antimicrobial resistance impacts UK food production from farm to fork. AMAST – the AMR in Agrifood Systems Transdisciplinary Network, has been created to harness perspectives from across agrifood stakeholders and prepare new ways to tackle these challenges.

SEFARI and SEFARI Gateway are supporting AMAST, we are bringing in our expertise of how AMR affects our lives and environment to the network.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), where microbes becoming resistant to the medicines we use to control them, presents a major threat to society and our ability to prevent or cure disease is threatened in the future.

National and international governments and health agencies are taking action to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is now supporting eight new transdisciplinary networks to tackle AMR. 

The AMR in Agrifood Systems Transdisciplinary (AMAST) Network has been established to understand the challenge of AMR in the UK’s agrifood system. AMAST will receive ca. £650,000 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding as part of its work to tackle infections.

The network will be co-ordinated by Dr Matthew Gilmour, based at the Quadram Institute, with an international expert advisory panel providing oversight.

“We’re really excited to be part of this new community. The agrifood system is incredibly complex with a diverse community of key players that are involved in the production of safe and nutritious foods.  So understanding the challenges of AMR requires a non-traditional approach” said Dr Gilmour.

“We at SEFARI are excited to be part of this important emerging AMAST Network community tackling the thorny issue of AMR. The agrifood system is complex, with a diverse community of stakeholders involved, in producing and supplying safe and nutritious foods. This Network offers a great opportunity, through collaboration and cooperation, to bring a wide range of evidence from academia to industry and to engage effectively with primary producers to consumers. “ said Professor Lorna Dawson from The James Hutton Institute and SEFARI Gateway.

AMAST will, for the first time, bring together various agrifood communities with academic researchers from different disciplines, to identify from the bottom up the challenges AMR poses within agrifood, and then collaborate to develop solutions.

The AMAST Network will involve members from different agrifood production systems, such as crop, livestock and aquaculture, from primary production through to the consumer. It will also bring in transdisciplinary academics, including bioscientists and social scientists as well as other areas that may not have previously engaged with AMR as a challenge.

The AMAST Leadership Team is made up of the Quadram Institute, Newcastle University, Royal Veterinary College, University of Stirling, Royal Holloway University of London, Cranfield University, James Hutton Institute, Royal Agricultural University, Scotland’s Rural College, University of Bristol, University of Leicester and University of Southampton. Partners on board the AMAST Network include ADAS, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, the Animal and Plant Health Agency, CAB International (CABI), The Environmental Research Institute (University of Highlands and Islands), the FAI Farms, Fera Science, the Food Industry Initiative on Antimicrobials (FIIA), Menter a Busnes, NHS Highland, Ricardo,  UK Agri-Tech Centre and Vet Sustain.

Through interviews, workshops and themed community meetings, all members of the network will be able to bring their perspectives on the key threats of AMR in agrifood. The network will collectively identify and prioritise areas of opportunity, as well as understanding where more research is needed to plug gaps in our understanding.

You can find out more and sign up to the Network by visiting the website: www.AMAST.org.uk  

Contact us at AMAST@quadram.ac.uk