The use of nitrogen fertiliser at Glensaugh has been in decline for years and we have now decided to drop this input completely. The rationale is fairly simple:

• we have an alternative provider of Nitrogen in our sown clovers
• the cost of one tonne of inorganic N is £300 and rising
• we would only have spread 7 tonnes and the £2,100 would be better spent on re-sowing one of our older leys
• the time spent on the job was disproportionate to the benefit from using the input.

Time is ever at a premium and any hours released from the farming routine are easily swallowed up by the needs of the “Estate” where general maintenance, fencing, tree felling and firewood processing could easily keep another employee in full time work. It is a credit to the staff at Glensaugh that we manage to undertake so much non-routine work, most of which is fitted into odd hours and quiet afternoons.

Professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Scottish Government will addresses delegates to the Institute’s spring series of seminars and also discuss science’s role in addressing global problems.

The seminar series forms part of preparations for the launch of The James Hutton Institute, a new institute to be created by the Macaulay and SCRI (Scottish Crop Research Institute) as well part of Science & Engineering Week public engagement programme.

Professor Glover’s seminar, “The value of science for Scotland and its role in addressing global problems” takes place in the Macaulay Suite at the Craigiebuckler, starting at 2pm.

Attendance is free, but prior registration is required by contacting Jenna Gray on 01224 395000 or j.gray@macaulay.ac.uk.

ENDS

Macaulay Land Use Research Institute

The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute was founded in 1930 and is an international centre for research and consultancy on the environmental and social consequences of rural land uses. With an annual income from research and consultancy of over £14m, the Institute is the largest interdisciplinary research organisation of its kind in Europe, and aims to provide evidence to help shape future environmental and rural-development policy on a national and international basis.

Issued by:

Clare Neely
PR and Communications Manager
Communication Services
The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
Craigiebuckler
Aberdeen AB15 8QH

Tel: 01224 395087
Fax: 01224 395010
c.neely@macaulay.ac.uk

The week long course will also demonstrate in a practical way how clay minerals can be identified and characterised using the primary analytical techniques of X-ray powder diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy.

Leading the course will be geologist and clay mineralogist Dr Jeff Wilson, a Distinguished Member of The Clay Minerals Society and recent recipient of the Bailey Award for excellence in clay research.

Dr Wilson says, “An appreciation of clay mineralogy is very important in the petroleum industry from many points of view. Clay-related problems such as wellbore instability, disintegration of cuttings and bit balling are frequently encountered during drilling operations and clay-related problems often affect reservoir quality”

This course has been designed to help delegates identify clay-related problems, and determine solutions which may require not only quantitative mineralogical analysis but determination of clay technological properties and interpretive skill with regard to the particular problem in hand.

Other course instructors include geologist and clay mineralogist Dr Steve Hillier, winner of the Reynolds Cup for quantitative analysis of clay materials and Tony Fraser, a chemist and internationally recognised expert on the characterization of clay minerals by infrared spectroscopy.

Dr Derek Bain, immediate past President of The Clay Minerals Society (USA) and Honorary Life Member of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland will introduce the course and welcome participants.

‘Clay mineralogy and its applications to the oil industry: a practical course’ takes place from 14-18 March 2011 at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute in Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen.  For further information visit macaulay.ac.uk/claymineral.

Iain Gordon, Chief Executive  and Karen Shaw, Chief Operating Officer of The James Hutton Institute will be judging the  annual Sprent prize for the best presentation along with Clare Neely, PR and Communications Manager of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute.

The top two students will go forward to the Science for Life Student Festival in June.

All welcome.

Crime fiction, whether for film, TV or paperback, is one of the most popular genres in our society. We have a fascination with ‘who-dunnits’, speculating endlessly about the hows, whys and wherefores of increasingly complex and macabre murders. Now ‘Murder, Mystery & Microscopes’ will put a spotlight on crime writer Val Mcdermid as a team of internationally renowned scientific experts explore the facts.

The award winning event between the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Robert Gordon University and the University of Aberdeen arrives in Kirkaldy as part of a highly successful nationwide tour. Supported by a Scottish Government programme of science engagement, the event has entertained sell-out crowds in Orkney, Ullapool, Techfest in Aberdeen, Science Festivals in Liverpool, Guildford and Edinburgh and the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate.

Professor Dave Barclay, a world-renowned forensics expert and Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science at Robert Gordon University, will be providing his specialist insight. Former Head of Physical Evidence for the UK-National Policing Improvement Agency, Professor Barclay has been involved in reviewing more than 200 murder investigations, cold case reviews and inquiries into alleged miscarriages of justice. These include the Bloody Sunday inquiry, the Omagh bombing, the World’s End murders in Edinburgh, and the Millie Dowler and Soham murders.

Professor Barclay’s extensive experience has led him to become an adviser for the BBC television series ‘Waking the Dead’. He explained, “We are hoping to explode a few myths of how Hollywood doesn’t always get the science right and see whether Val does.”

Dr Lorna Dawson, Principal Soil Scientist at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, will also be providing expert input at the event. With over 20 years experience in conducting and managing research in soils, she has worked on numerous cases with forces in Scotland, England and Wales and is currently the forensics soil advisor for the Forensic Science Service. One of the main thrusts of her work is the research and application of soil and vegetation information in forensic case work, and she has recently worked on an episode of BBC’s ‘Silent Witness’ and on STV’s ‘the Vera Stanhope mysteries’, advising writers on forensic soil science.

Professor Sue Black, a well-known Forensic Anthropologist from the University of Dundee University and star of BBC 2’s History Cold Case completes the expert trio.

Organiser Jane Morrice concluded, “The event is designed to raise public understanding of the science which underpins forensic investigations, both in the real world and in crime fiction. We are delighted that it has proven to be so popular.”

The event takes place at Starks Park, Kirkaldy on 5 March, starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are priced at £5 for adults and £3 for concessions and must be bought in advance by contacting Jane Morrice on 01224 395277.

ENDS

Further information

For further details please contact:

Clare Neely
The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute
Craigiebucker
Aberdeen AB15 8QH
Tel: 01224 395087 (direct dial)
E-mail: c.neely@macaulay.ac.uk

The setting up of our biomass enterprise has reached its final stage as the boiler house is completed and the plumbers make final connections before we commission the plant. Meanwhile our new firewood processing machine has been brought into use and a mountain of logs has been reduced to a heap of usable fuel-wood.

Having cleared away a lot of last years timber we are now ready to fell more. Two overgrown sycamores at Glensaugh Lodge are due to come down. A lot of sycamore has been planted as a nurse crop, but not removed. We are getting round to this about seventy years later.