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Novel Crops: To address opportunities for producing alternative protein and carbohydrate crops in Scottish agriculture for fish and crustacean feed, bioenergy, bio-refining, animal feed and human consumption, and to develop design criteria for integrating suitable alternative legume and non-legume crops as sole and intercrops within rotations whilst also accounting for agronomic and ecosystem services.

There are two main areas of research:

1. Nitrogen use efficiency, novel high protein crops and the multiple benefits that arise from innovatively managed cropped systems, and especially legume (i.e. biological nitrogen fixation) supported cropping for more sustainable food, feed and energy production, including novel food and feed formulations. Additionally, this work aims to improve production efficiency of biomass crops (e.g the grass Miscanthus) particularly for marginal land by identifying combinations of Miscanthus and associated plant growth promoting rhizobacteria best suited for these cropping situations.
2. Novel fruit, floral and flora-based crops and associated novel cropping strategies, with the aim of strengthening the Scottish economy via sustainable use of underutilised natural resources. These include the identification of the best agronomic practices for under-cover production of dwarf hop varieties to help support the development of the rapidly expanding craft micro-brewery businesses in Scotland and establishment of a collection of wild Scottish low bush berry populations to characterise genetic types and identify best-fit for purpose populations and practices to underpin their commercial development. Finally, the work aims to identify several native Scottish plant species and their bioactives (extracted chemicals that affect biological processes) which show a high potential to improve health and which are also suitable for large scale in-field commercial production.

This research aims to examine how resilience in rural communities can be enhanced through processes of local empowerment and the role of wider networks and partnerships in facilitating the enhancement of resilience. It will also consider how stakeholders’ (including academics, policymakers, practitioners and communities) understandings of rural community resilience can be developed to create collaborative initiatives in the future.

Tom is the Scientific Director of the Moredun Research Institute and Chief Executive of the Moredun Foundation

He joined Moredun in 2006 following the completion of his PhD at R(D)SVS, University of Edinburgh. He is a qualified veterinary surgeon, and prior to his PhD spent four years in mixed practice.

His major interests are in mucosal immunology of ruminants, specifically host-pathogen interactions at mucosal surfaces, and how these may inform future disease control strategies.

This work involves studying mucosal responses at multiple levels from cell culture, through organoids, tissue explants and other 3D-cell culture systems, to in vivo challenge models. In addition to exploring basic immunological questions in ruminant species, his work involves the development of vaccines to control veterinary pathogens residing at mucosal surfaces, such as gastro-intestinal parasites of sheep and cattle, as well as zoonotic pathogens with a ruminant reservoir including Coxiella burnetii and Escherichia coli O157. He also has an interest in the immune basis of disease resistance and susceptibility in ruminant species.

Tom was appointed as Honorary Professor in the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Current Research

• Development of vaccines against ruminant gastrointestinal parasites and zoonotic bacterial pathogens
• Host-pathogen interactions at the mucosal surface
• The causes and consequences of immune variation in ruminant populations
• Investigation of immune-regulation in ruminants in relation to parasitic and bacterial diseases

I am a microbiologist at the Rowett Institute. My research investigates how the diet that we eat influences the microbes that live in our intestines, and in turn what impacts these diet-microbe interactions might have on our health. Work carried out at The Rowett has identified many of the key gut bacteria that respond to specific components of our diet, and we are now working to better understand the roles that these diet-responsive gut bacteria might play in the human body, for example by protecting us from invading pathogens that can cause disease. Ultimately, knowledge gained should feed into innovative attempts to develop microbiome-directed foods or therapeutic interventions. You can find out more about my research here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/people/alan.walker