Staff from the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute presented a cheque for nearly £1,200 to Friends of ANCHOR, a cancer care charity in Aberdeen. The money was raised during a Quiz Night held at the Institute and was presented to Friends of ANCHOR fundraising manager, Fiona Pearson, during a visit to the Institute. [continue reading ... ]

Glensaugh is having a busy end to the year. The day to day livestock business has settled into a winter routine.

The discovery of Macaulayite as a mineral new to the world of science was initiated by Dr Isaac Stephen in 1977 when he was researching the decomposition by weathering of granite and other rocks Using X-ray methods he was studying a sample from an outcrop of soft, deeply weathered, red mottled granite exposed near the Bennachie car park when he noticed an unusual X-ray reflection which he was unable to explain. Dr Stephen brought a sample to the attention of the soil mineralogy group at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, led by Dr Jeff Wilson, who along with other colleagues pursued the matter further.

Results of a national inventory of Scotlands soils will provide scientists with invaluable evidence on climate change. The Institute has completed a national soil sampling project which it will use to compare with samples taken 25 years earlier from the same locations to investigate the impact of climate change on our soils.

Energy efficiency experts gathered in Aberdeen today, Thursday 3 December 2009, to discuss a response to the Scottish Government’s Energy Efficiency Action Plan for Scotland. The workshop, hosted by the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, was organised by the Scottish Government’s Business, Enterprise and Energy Directorate to collect responses to a current consultation on a future energy policy. [continue reading ... ]