Hutton postgraduate research showcased at 2022 event

"This event provides a valuable learning experience for Hutton students in communicating their work to the wider scientific community and promotes a collegiate atmosphere"

The annual Hutton Postgraduate Student Event, which showcases the excellent science being undertaken by postgraduate students at the James Hutton Institute, returned to its traditional in-person format at the Birnam Arts and Conference Centre, Birnam, on Thursday 3^rd and Friday 4^th March 2022.

The event provides a valuable learning experience for Hutton students in communicating their work to the wider scientific community and promotes a collegiate atmosphere. It broadens awareness and knowledge of the varied projects undertaken at the Institute and is an opportunity to celebrate the work of students and their supervisors.

The event featured student presentation sessions with different styles of communication to reflect the different stages of a PhD studentship: a poster session for first-year students, an oral session for second-year students, and an academic Dragons' Den-style session devoted to short oral presentations from third and fourth-year students.

This year the programme featured a guest talk on communication and engagement by Prof Lee Innes (Moredun Research Institute) and sessions covering the topics of research integrity (Dr Piers Hemsley, University of Dundee), mental health (Heidi Tweedie, Moray Wellbeing Hub) and working with the media (Bernardo Rodriguez-Salcedo, James Hutton Institute).

Prizes were awarded as follows:

Poster Session

• Macaulay Development Trust Sprent Poster Prize: Cristina McBride, Can Increased Plant Diversity Restore Soil-Associated Ecosystem Services in Agroecosystems Experiencing Variable Rainfall Patterns?
• James Hutton Limited Poster Prize: Josephine Heger, Socially Just Food Systems After COVID-19 Challenges and Opportunities for Food Systems Transition in Scotland’s North-East

Oral Session

• Chief Executive Prize: Moray Smith, Resistance in the Roots: Identifying the H2 Potato Cyst Nematode Resistance Gene
• The James Hutton Institute Prize: Zoe Barr, Regulation of Plant Cell-To-Cell Communication: Novel Factors Regulating Plasmodesmata
• James Hutton Limited Innovation Prize: Rebekah Hinton, Developing a Board Game to Highlight the Challenges In Protecting Groundwater

Academic Dragons' Den Session

• Macaulay Development Trust Sprent Oral Prize: Imelda Uwase, Soil Organic Matter Dynamics Within Crop Mixtures
• Mylnefield Trust Impact Pitch Prize: Alicia Farmer, Lett-Us See the Problem