Science Newsletter - Scottish Natural Heritage

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Mar 23, 2018 - replication, as well as further follow-up research would be desirable, but we often have to base policy o
Scottish Natural Heritage

Science Newsletter

Issue 23 – March 2018 _______________________________________________________ __

In this issue:           

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Welcome from the SAC Chair IUCN National Committee UK River Restoration and Biodiversity project Launch of New Centre of Expertise in Plant Health Ecological traps for large scale invasive species control Natural England Scientific Advisory Committee Learning outside the classroom boosts educational attainment Pollinator Strategy gathers momentum Conferences and meetings News SNH Staff profile SAC Expert Panel member profile

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Welcome from the SAC Chair Bob Furness Welcome to this latest Science Newsletter. I want to introduce you to a recent paper, because it illustrates some of the problems of developing policy and advice when new evidence comes to light. The paper is Halttunen et al (2017) Sea trout adapt their migratory behaviour in response to high salmon lice concentrations. Journal of Fish Diseases DOI: 10.1111/jfd.12749. I think it is a really interesting paper. The authors tracked movements of tagged sea trout around a fjord in Norway where salmon cages are plentiful but where biennial fallowing, to reduce sea louse infestations, resulted in dramatic changes in sea louse abundance between years. As indicated in the title of the paper, sea trout adapted their behaviour to spend more time in freshwater when sea lice were numerous, which the authors interpret as adaptive behaviour to reduce infestation (because sea lice don’t survive in freshwater habitats). This novel research was very cleverly designed, and the results of the tracking are really impressive (over ten million acoustic detections of tagged fish). The results seem at face value to provide important insights into impacts of sea lice on wild fish where salmon farming is practiced. But the authors also point out that their analysis found no difference in survival of fish in years with high or low louse abundance, and no difference in survival between groups of trout treated with a prophylaxis against infestation and a control untreated group. So the same study shows strong behavioural impacts but no fitness consequence (but was based on only 3 years of study). Perhaps the altered behaviour might affect trout growth, in which case there may be a longer-term impact on fitness. Of course replication, as well as further follow-up research would be desirable, but we often have to base policy on interpretation of complex or incomplete evidence. This paper is a clear example of the difficulty of using novel scientific evidence to shape policy. No doubt other items referred to in this newsletter may create similar ambiguities of interpretation as well as help to establish consensus; science progresses as a significant body of evidence accumulates, preferably from multiple studies using a variety of approaches in different locations. But sometimes we don’t have the luxury to wait until the evidence base is compelling and clear.

IUCN National Committee UK River Restoration and Biodiversity project Angus Tree The three phase River Restoration and Biodiversity Project is led by SNH under the auspices of IUCN National Committee UK (NCUK). It has a steering group comprising representatives of the UK and Ireland’s nature conservation and environment protection agencies, the River Restoration Centre, and the IUCN NCUK. Phil Boon, who chaired the steering group until he retired from SNH in 2017, has kindly agreed to remain on it. The project forms part of the work planned for Priority Project 3 (Restoration of freshwaters) in Scotland’s Biodiversity Route Map to 2020. The work began in 2013 after Susan Davies (then SNH’s Director of Policy and Advice) was approached by the IUCN for ideas of projects that could be run under its patronage. Phil highlighted the paucity of evidence on the benefits of river restoration for biodiversity and, after discussion amongst freshwater colleagues in the other country agencies, devised a proposal which was accepted by the IUCN NCUK. The aim of the project is to gather compelling evidence of the benefits for biodiversity of restoring rivers in the hope that, by doing so, government administrations will be minded to devote more funding to river restoration.

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Using a variety of sources (published and ‘grey’ literature, EU project databases, and information provided by statutory and voluntary bodies) Phase 1 reviewed the link between river processes and biodiversity, described the main causes of damage to river habitat, and assessed the current status of river restoration in the UK and Ireland. The Phase 1 report (River restoration and biodiversity) provided the background for a two-day workshop that was held in Liverpool in November 2014 and attended by 44 river restoration experts from the UK and Ireland. The group discussed: progress of river restoration in the UK and Ireland; evidence of the effectiveness of restoration projects; how the success of projects should be communicated; and the future direction of and priorities for river restoration. A report of the workshop is here. Phase 2 centred on the production of an IUCN NCUK commissioned report, River Restoration and Biodiversity: Nature-Based Solutions for Restoring the Rivers of the UK and Republic of Ireland, written by CREW http://www.crew.ac.uk/ . This was launched at the Freshwater Biological Association, Windermere, in September 2016. The executive summary of this wellreceived publication - to date it has been downloaded significantly more times than any other CREW report - has been adopted as the project steering group’s position statement. Section 6 (Recommendations for restoring rivers, specifically Gather evidence and evaluate projects) provides the focus for Phase 3 Phase 3 is underway. Informed by material and ideas collated at an expert workshop in Bangor, North Wales (October 2017), the steering group is seeking to establish a network of sites at which the biological response to a variety of river restoration techniques can be monitored to establish robust evidence of the value of restoring rivers. The Steering Group hopes that some completed or on-going projects may prove suitable, but anticipates that significant funding will be needed to develop and monitor new projects. SNH has agreed to sponsor a post to write a bid for European or other funding to support this vital work. Information: [email protected]

Launch of new Centre of Expertise in Plant Health which seeks to strengthen Scotland’s resilience Chris Quine Plants play essential roles in our lives by underpinning habitats and food webs, clothing our landscapes, regulating our climate and providing raw materials for many economic activities. However, the potential for these contributions to be disrupted by pests and diseases is ever present, and indeed may increase as a result of new arrivals whether deliberately introduced or unwittingly arriving through trade; the growing impact of Ash Dieback provides a recent example. The UK Plant Health Risk Register identifies at least 900 others pests and pathogens which could pose a future threat to wild plants, trees, and crops and cultivated plants. This makes it vital to adopt a co-ordinated approach across sectors to monitoring plant diseases, as well as helping stakeholders understand how to improve their own plant health capabilities. To tackle these challenges the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) has provided funding to bring together a number Classic lesion associated with ash dieback on a young ash tree. Credit Steven Hendry, Forest Research

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of Scottish research organisations to establish a new virtual Centre of Expertise for Plant Health. Working with the recently appointed Chief Plant Health Officer for Scotland, Professor Gerry Saddler from Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), the Centre will bring together key plant sectors to co-ordinate plant health needs and activities across Scotland. It will be headed up by the James Hutton Institute (Professor Ian Toth), along with sector leads from Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (Environment and horticulture − Professor Pete Hollingsworth), Forest Research (Forestry and woodlands − Professor Chris Quine), and Scotland’s Rural College (Agriculture − Professor Fiona Burnett), together with partners from Universities of Edinburgh, Stirling and Strathclyde, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and Biomathematics and Statistics, each bringing with them a range of skills from understanding public perceptions to long-term disease forecasting. Of all potential threats to the UK, the Centre will focus on those of highest risk to Scotland, taking into account our climate and the plants of most importance to our natural heritage, economy and social wellbeing. For example, one of our major threats is the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa which is able to infect over 200 plant species worldwide and is currently causing major economic losses to olive trees in Italy, and causing damage to other trees and flowering plants elsewhere in Europe. For this and other threats, the Centre’s activities will include a focus on understanding possible routes of entry into Scotland, the ability to spread to and infect our major plant species under our climatic conditions, as well as the best methods for control and when to implement them. In addition, the Centre will work closely with a broad range of stakeholders to understand and act on their priorities and concerns to protect Scotland into the future. The Plant Health centre of expertise will complement the existing portfolio established by the Scottish Government covering Animal Health (EPIC) Climate Change (CxC) and Waters (CREW). Information: Chris Quine, Forest Research, [email protected] Hollingsworth, RBGE, [email protected]

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‘Ecological traps’ for large scale invasive species control Xavier Lambin Invasive species present daunting challenges to conservationists because of the scale over which their impact on native biodiversity play out. Despite the current emphasis on prevention and early action, many damaging invasive species have become established. Their spread can overwhelm the limited resources of conservation agencies, and hence more non-native species accumulate and native biodiversity is eroded. Not all is doom and gloom, however, as conservation practitioners have become increasingly adept at eradicating rats, mice, rabbits and feral cats from oceanic islands. The responses of birds and vegetation have been spectacular, so it is possible to reverse the spread of invasive and regain what was once lost! While the impacts of invasive species on mainland areas compared with islands may be realised more slowly, they are no less insidious. Yet, eradication of mobile species is not feasible in the invaded mainland because there will always be a flux of dispersers arriving from outside and seeking to settle in vacant, attractive territories. Thus, rather than eradication, the aim of invasive management on the mainland is to reduce the density of the most damaging invasive species sufficiently so as to minimize their impact on native species. 4

On-going invasive management on mainland entails removing hopeful incomers as they arrive. It must be designed to last in perpetuity, hence optimising cost-effectiveness is crucial. One way to achieve this is to better understand the rules that re-invading dispersers use when deciding where to settle in an area largely depleted of conspecifics. This is what the research in our paper here sets out to do. This is the product of close collaboration with a partnership of conservation practitioners over 10 years who sought to push back the invasion of Scotland by the American mink, one of the world’s most nefarious invasive mammals. Mink escaped from fur farms and now devastate bird and mammal species living along waterways, including the water vole, a species of high cultural value in the UK. Citizen conservationists supported by project staff operated floating mink rafts used to detect, trap and remove mink in their local area. Their combined effort severely and durably reduced mink density over a staggering 20,000km2 area, akin to the extent of Wales (a third of the area of Scotland). The scale and topographic barriers surrounding the management area contributed to reducing the flux of dispersers. Despite this, a steady flow of dispersers had to be dealt with to preserve the achievements of the project.

Image of mink in trap on mink raft, Credit Jamie Urquhart

We used DNA forensics to reconstruct the pedigree and place of birth of mink culled by conservation volunteers, and estimated the proportion of young mink which settled away from home. We found that there is ample potential for mink dispersal to compensate for the control effort. 77% of mink had dispersed from their natal area, and 20% of these travelled > 80 km. Thus, few places, if any, are beyond reach of such an effective invader.

We then asked whether all parts of the management area were equally at risk of reinvasion or whether some parts were more attractive and preferentially re-settled by mink, so requiring heightened vigilance. We found it was possible to predict where re-invading mink would settle by considering all options open to immigrants. We found that distance from the natal area was a poor predictor of settlement choice and that both male and female mink were discerning in their settling decisions, preferring high-quality river sections. Two metrics of quality, one based on habitat features and the other derived from the settlement decision of other mink, gave broadly consistent predictions. We are encouraged to find data obtained during management interventions largely carried out by citizen conservationists were sufficiently information-rich to predict patterns of recolonization. Our results are important because they provide an evidential basis for targeting control on patches attractive to immigrant mink, so creating ‘ecological traps’ where long term control effort might be concentrated. Information: [email protected] 5

Natural England Scientific Advisory Committee − different forms of knowledge in decision-making for the natural environment Clive Mitchell In February, I attended the Natural England Scientific Advisory Committee (NEESAC) meeting. The content was interesting, but so too was the idea of getting about 100 NE staff in a discussion with their SAC. The relationship between policy and evidence is complex and contingent – context is all. Evidence is filtered through world views, policy involves people and society can only be understood from within – there is no objective external view. As Susan Owen put it “the view from ‘nowhere’ does not exist.” How the issue is framed is critical: it defines the problem, who is involved and what evidence is used. Useful evidence takes many forms. Much depends on how and where evidence lands and whether decision makers want to hear it (the political context). It impacts if it resonates with political priorities. ‘Policy windows’ – where policy, problems and politics align – are not predictable but it is possible to ride the wave – if you are agile and flexible to respond to emerging opportunities (‘strategic opportunism’). Evidence supports ‘serviceable’ truths. Power is rife and problematic when not acknowledged. Power prescribes what is to be done and it codifies what is to be known, what counts as knowledge and who is the expert. Policy involves winners and losers which depend on the distribution of, not aggregate, costs and benefits. New approaches explore cost-consequence analysis (justice framings) and involve people in citizen juries and other deliberative methods. Bias is also rife and problematic when not acknowledged. Evidence is bounded by the way the problem is framed. Hierarchies of evidence are far from objective and tend to reflect the world views of the designers of the hierarchies. Evidence requires interpretation, which involves bias. ‘Policy core beliefs’ are the things that just must be so (e.g. individual choice in a neo-liberal economy) and are particularly hard to shift. It is much easier to see bias in others and we need to be vigilant to our own thoughts and bias. One way to do this is to involve different disciplines and viewpoints to encourage reflection on assumptions and biases. This leads to more robust evidence. It is important to understand the character of the problem. Does the evidence work in the situation or context it is being applied? Blanket approaches undermine the context and hence whether the evidence is fit for purpose, they undermine diversity and they generally fail to reflect the character of the problem at issue. Nature is complex and we need to learn from what works, and what doesn’t. This requires a ‘positive error culture’ to learn from mistakes without fear of blame. One way to do this is to get into the detail. A project overall may have been a great success, but often there are specific interventions that could have worked better. We should learn more from the experience of front-line staff in the Areas and on NNRs. Where there is complexity, there is uncertainty. We must work with real world complexity, messiness and change – and make more use of adaptive management to learn by doing. Potential areas for innovation include: the interface between research and experience; making more use of tacit/front-line knowledge; developing shared understandings; and, building trust. Information: [email protected]

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Learning outside the classroom boosts educational attainment! Peter Higgins, Des Thompson and Pete Rawcliffe SNH recently announced the beginning of a Magnus Magnusson PhD study of the impacts of nature on learning and development 1 , and so we are heartened to see new research published suggesting an improvement in attainment in literacy and numeracy through ‘Outdoor Learning Hubs’2. Published as part of the Scottish Attainment Challenge to reduce the poverty related equity gap within Scottish education, the researchers worked with two primary school clusters within Livingston in West Lothian. In a 12-week programme (two hours per week) with 80% delivery in school grounds, children gained on average six months of mental arithmetic and two months of general maths against a similar cohort of children within control schools. This type of study is in line with recent Scottish studies and other international research which is gradually adding to the evidence base on the importance of outdoor learning for educational attainment. For example, although somewhat dated, a substantial 2004 international review commissioned by the Field Studies Council, demonstrated links between educational attainment and outdoor environmental learning3. More recently, a study by American psychologists4, using matched pairs of lessons (one in a relatively natural outdoor setting, and the other indoors), observed subsequent classroom engagement during an indoor instructional period. They found classroom engagement was significantly better after lessons in nature than after their matched counterparts for four of the five measures developed for the study. After replicating these comparisons over 10 different topics and weeks in the school year, this ‘nature advantage’ held across different teachers, and held equally over the initial and final five weeks of lessons. Furthermore, evidence has emerged from another Scottish study 5 (of over 150 secondary school pupils) that outdoor learning provides opportunities for pupils to guide their own learning, and develop critical thinking skills. Teachers also acknowledged that such an approach presented an opportunity to develop these skills, which can in some cases, be overlooked in early secondary education. Finally, a recent Scottish PhD (Hamilton, 20176) study supported by the Forestry Commission provides further evidence and suggests a possible mechanism. In comparison to a control 1 2

https://www.snhpresscentre.com/news/first-student-starts-new-environmental-phd-in-name-of-magnus-magnusson http://www.sapoe.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Outdoor-Hub-Learning-Report-Dec-2017-V1.pdf

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https://www.field-studies-council.org/media/268859/2004_a_review_of_research_on_outdoor_learning.pdf https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02253/full 5 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3213/abstract;jsessionid=0797F4C8DFC23EC937FA986A2B2A1BEC.f02t02 6 Hamilton, J. M. (2017). Relationships between Outdoor and Classroom Task Settings, and Cognition in Primary Schoolchildren. Heriot Watt University. [ESRC CASE studentship with the Forestry Commission] 4

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group “outdoor tasks were recalled more readily and in richer detail, and were preferred for all criteria, with the experienced group returning the strongest preferences”, and that “underachievers recalled more outdoors than peers”. The possible explanation suggested is “that ‘creative compatibility’ is associated with ‘natural richness’ and hinges on perceived compatibility, discovery and resourcefulness outdoors.” This is “best summarised a virtuous systemic interrelationship between affordance richness, functional motivation and positive interdependence, with significant implications for task performance.” This new material supports a recent University of Edinburgh ‘Research into Action Briefing’7 which summarises the evidence that well-structured outdoor learning:  facilitates children’s development in school grounds, local areas and on residential courses;  supports learning in all aspects of the school curriculum from 3 to 18;  provides opportunities for pupils to guide their own learning and develop critical thinking skills in ways elusive in the classroom;  raises children’s awareness of environmental and sustainability issues, resulting in understanding and promoting an ethic of care for our planet (directly linked with the concept of ‘learning for sustainability’); and  has direct health and wellbeing benefits. All of this leads to high rates of ‘enhancement of challenge, enjoyment, personalisation, relevance, breadth and progression’ of learning. In line with this, the Scottish Government has recently announced funding for outdoor learning in the early years8. In making the announcement the Minister for Childcare and Early Years, Maree Todd MSP said: “The significance of funded early learning and childcare gives us the perfect opportunity to define the type of experience we want to offer our children during their early years. That is why we are committing more than £860,000 to increase the use of outdoor learning, to ensure it becomes a defining feature of childhood in Scotland.” In light of the evidence reported above it seems logical that comparable encouragement, policy and support should be put in place for Primary and Secondary provision to ensure such benefits are maintained. In this Year of Young People 9 we hope to see such support and that much more critical research will be published in this key area. Outdoor learning in schools could be the key to unlocking the potential for a ground-swelling shift in educational attainment. Resources, projects and Continued Professional Life Long Learning are all in place to help schools make the transition needed to regular, frequent, structured and progressive outdoor learning experiences. Further information on the range of current activity and support for outdoor learning provided by SNH and others can be found here https://www.nature.scot/professionaladvice/education and http://outdoorlearningdirectory.com/. Information: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Pete Higgins and Des Thompson are Trustees of the Field Studies Council @FieldStudiesC

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http://learningforsustainabilityscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Impact-of-Outdoor-Learning-attainment-and-behaviourin-schools-LfS-Research-Briefings-No-3-.pdf 8 https://beta.gov.scot/news/learning-outdoors/ 9

http://yoyp2018.scot/

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Pollinator Strategy gathers momentum Jim Jeffrey The Pollinator Strategy for Scotland was launched on 26 July 2017. A joint publication between Scottish Government and Scottish Natural Heritage, the document brought together the expertise and aspirations of a wide range of organisations, including Buglife, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, James Hutton Institute, Bee Farmer’s Association, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Scottish Environment LINK, NFU Scotland, and Scottish Land and Estates. Come July 2018 we intend to publish a Progress Report to demonstrate the many projects taking place that bring the Strategy’s objectives alive. The Strategy was clear in its aims. Work was urgently required to make Scotland more pollinator-friendly, halt and reverse the decline in native pollinator populations, improve our understanding of pollinators, manage the commercial use of pollinators to benefit native pollinators, and monitor and evaluate whether pollinators are thriving. It was evident from an early stage that we wouldn’t deliver all of these objectives single-handedly and that the many partners who helped us develop the Strategy would progress the bulk of the ‘on the ground’ projects. Nevertheless, the fact that we can all make a difference in helping our pollinators. That’s clearly reflected in the range of projects that are taking place, as they range from landscape scale projects through to hints for gardeners, and encouragement to join identification events. There is a notable urban element to this project. In Inverclyde a community based group has launched a series of projects that identify derelict or under-utilised urban sites that can be transformed to help pollinators. Building on the success achieved at a couple of locations in Greenock, the group have recently taken the ambitious step of tackling the site that once housed the local baths. The plot has lain empty for around two decades now, and it will be transformed into an urban meadow which will ultimately offer much-needed food and shelter to bees, butterflies and other invertebrates. A community focussed project of this nature will also fulfil one of our key drivers – connecting people and nature. Over in the east of Scotland The Falkirk’s Pollinator Way is a joint project between Buglife Scotland and Falkirk Council. Working with local primary schools they have been transforming parks across Falkirk into colourful and diverse wildflower and grassland meadows. These areas will provide vital foraging and nesting habitat for pollinating insects including bumblebees, hoverflies and butterflies. Taken together these parks will in time form a welcome pollinator route through Falkirk. In the meantime the project, like its counterpart in Inverclyde, has encouraged young people to see the benefits that a healthy environment can deliver. Our key stakeholders at Buglife and Bumblebee Conservation Trust have been to the fore in delivering the Strategy’s objectives. One of Buglife’s flagship projects is the John Muir Pollinator Way - an inspirational landscape-scale project which has mapped Scotland’s first B-Line to highlight opportunities for reconnecting fragmented habitats across the central belt. Bumblebee Conservation Trust have several projects planned for 2018 including an expansion of their BeeWalk programme, and their farm demonstration events showing how to integrate effective bee-friendly measures into farm businesses. 9

We have been able to add to this mix too. Our Green Infrastructure colleagues are now routinely embedding provision for pollinators into their projects and there is growing interest in green roofs and walls in their discussions. Given that this work reaches large urban audiences their effort is particularly important. Less urban orientated, but equally exciting, is the proposal we are exploring to create a pollinator corridor along the banks of the River Tweed and we are progressing making the wildflower meadow at Battleby into a demonstration site that, with a little interpretation, will enable us to showcase good-practice for pollinators and welcome visitors with practical information. What comes next? Bringing together the many projects into a portal where information, experience and examples can be grouped is on the horizon. Regular contact with our project partners will continue, and demonstration sites along with research opportunities will be publicised to raise awareness of this vital piece of work. Our new graduate placement post ‘Creating a buzz in buildings’ will look to connect with the construction business to ensure that pollinators are factored into planning and design of urban developments. As we head into spring there’s a buzz in the air, and the Pollinator Strategy is set to amplify that buzz.

Conferences and meetings 20-21 March 2018, The 3rd Annual Scottish Ecology, Environment and Conservation Conference 2018 at University of St Andrews. Theme – ‘The environment of Scotland in the next 50 years.’ We present the third ‘Scottish Ecology, Environment and Conservation’ Conference https://seecc2018.wordpress.com/ geared towards advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. It offers fantastic opportunities to present and hear about the very best of research work, and to meet with staff in government, agencies, NGOs and researcher bodies keen to make the best use of excellent research. Feedback from previous conferences has been great, so we know this is the conference to go to as an enthusiastic student or researcher keen to contribute to a better environmental future in Scotland. The program consists of: 1. Student talks and posters to give an opportunity to share research and ideas 2. Two plenary talks (Dr John Armstrong, Marine Scotland Science Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory, and Nicola Melville, Senior Scientist with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency); 3. A panel debate including a politician, landowner, fisheries scientist, rewilding expert, landscape sustainability planner and environmental consultant. The topic centres on what Scotland should look like environmentally in 50 years’ time (chaired by Sally Thomas, Director of Policy and Advice, SNH); 4. A poster, pizza and networking event to enable students to meet both academics and employers informally; and 5. Career desks to provide opportunities for key agency/NGO/research body staff to be on hand to offer advice – SNH, SEPA, Forestry Commission Scotland, RSPB, Scottish Wildlife Trust, Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, and Natural Research have already agreed to come. 10

Registration is free and includes all refreshments; there is also be a range of options for overnight accommodation, outlined in the official registration email. So please put these two days in your diary – March 20th and 21st 2018 – and register https://seecc2018.wordpress.com/ . The St Andrews SEECC 2018 Organising Committee: Will Cresswell, Faith Jones, Faye Moyes and Rob Patchett. 23-24 May 2018, British Ecological Society/Country Conservation Agencies’ Conference on Securing Our Natural Environment for Future Generations This is a key opportunity to discuss the future of nature and the environment! To be held in Manchester, there is a great team of keynote speakers https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/n4fg/outline-speakers/. Details and Registration here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/n4fg/ Organisers in Scotland [email protected] and [email protected]

News Congratulations to Martin Price and former Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) member Colin Campbell on being elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Hilary Birks at the University of Bergen, who collaborates with staff in SNH (and studied the ecological history of Abernethy Forest for her PhD) was elected a Corresponding Fellow: Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown was elected an Honorary Fellow: https://www.rse.org.uk/rse-welcomes-66-newfellows/ Alan Werritty, a former SAC member, was appointed by Ministers to chair the Grouse Moor Group: https://news.gov.scot/news/moorland-management Simon Pepper OBE, a former SNH Board member, was appointed by Ministers to chair the Deer Working Group: https://beta.gov.scot/groups/deer-working-group/. SNH staff Karen Rentoul and Becky Shaw support the groups, respectively, and Des Thompson is a Specialist Adviser to the former group. Congratulations and good wishes to Sue Walker OBE on her recent retirement as Deputy Chair and member of the SNH Board, and member of the JNCC. Congratulations to Roger Crofts CBE, founder CEO of SNH, for giving the Peter Wilson-RSE lecture on ‘Scotland’s land: successes and failures, challenges and solutions’.

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SNH Staff Profile Mairi Fenton

Mairi joined SNH in September 2017 as part of the SNH Graduate Placement programme. She is part of the Marine Survey and Monitoring team within the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Unit and is based at Great Glen House. Mairi graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in Marine and Freshwater Biology in 2011 and, after a brief spell working in Thailand for the National University of Singapore, joined the British Antarctic Survey. She spent most of the next four years living and working at Rothera Research Station on the Antarctic Peninsula running RaTS – a long term oceanographic and biological monitoring programme looking at ocean-atmosphere-ice interactions in an area experiencing rapid climate change. The job involved water and sea ice sampling, as well as scientific diving. Hooked on the cold, Mairi then moved north and worked at the University of Manitoba in Canada with the Arctic Eider Society looking at the effect of hydroelectric regulation on sea ice formation in Hudson Bay. This involved working with local Inuit and Cree hunters, heading out on the sea ice to take water samples and helping to set up a community-driven research programme. Mairi returned to Scotland for a Masters degree in Marine Science at Heriot Watt University which she completed in 2017 before joining SNH. Mairi is one of seven graduates to be employed within SNH in 2017 as part of the Scottish Governments Youth Employment Strategy aimed at providing young people with opportunities to gain experience working on natural heritage issues. The placements also offer a platform for graduates to continue training and developing essential skills, providing a solid foundation for career progression. Her main project with the Marine Survey and Monitoring team is working on how to prioritise benthic monitoring within Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), fitting within the recently published MPA Monitoring Strategy. She is also assisting with other projects such as putting together advice for the Loch Carron MPA consultation, the Priority Marine Feature (PMF) review and the EMFF project ‘Engaging Fishermen in Marine Environmental Monitoring’. She is looking forward to the survey season starting and getting out and about with the survey team!’

SAC Panel member Profile Prof. Martin Price Professor Martin Price is Director of the Centre for Mountain Studies at Perth College, University of the Highlands and Islands, where he holds the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Mountain Development. His work has focused on three main themes: mountains, biosphere reserves, and global environmental/climate change. The sustainable development of mountain areas has been a major theme since his MSc in Canada and his PhD in the USA. In Scotland, he led a major study on ‘sustainable estates’, with outcomes that continue to influence policy and practice, and was a Board member of the Cairngorms National Park Authority. At the European scale, he led three continent-wide 12

studies of mountains for various European institutions and has played key roles in Euromontana. Globally, he was closely involved in the formulation and implementation of Chapter 13 - "Protecting Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development" - of Agenda 21, endorsed by the Rio Earth Summit in 1992; the International Year of Mountains, 2002; and the Mountain Partnership. He has acted as a consultant on mountain issues to many international organisations. He has played key roles in UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme at national and global levels, most recently coordinating the development of the Programme’s 2015-25 Strategy and Action Plan while rapporteur of its International Coordinating Council. He has also published on the development of the concept of biosphere reserves, which provides many opportunities for finding synergies between conservation and other aspects of sustainable development. Currently, he leads a three-year project funded by the EU’s Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme, ‘Sustainable Heritage Areas: Partnerships for Ecotourism’ (SHAPE), which involves the two Scottish biosphere reserves and others in Finland and Norway, as well as sites in Iceland and Greenland. His work on the human dimensions of global environmental/climate change began while he was a postdoc at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, where he became the first secretary of the International Human Dimensions Programme. He worked on emissions of greenhouse gases in Africa and, writing about the impacts of climate change in mountain areas, was a Principal Lead Author of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice-president Al Gore. Ensuring that scientific knowledge is widely understood and used has long been a major concern. He has written and edited 14 books – most recently, ‘Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions’ (University of California Press, 2013) – and nearly 200 reports, papers, book chapters, and articles; and has been Book Review Editor of the pre-eminent mountain science journal ‘Mountain Research and Development’ since 1994. In 2012, the King Albert I Memorial Foundation awarded him the King Albert Mountain Award: the citation states that “Martin Price, with his exceptional knowledge and his editorial competence, has played a vital role for the mountains of the world”. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his contributions to public engagement and understanding.

SNH Science newsletter Editor: Lynne Clark, [email protected] 13