Linda Lawton,

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

., FRSE is a Scottish researcher in

microcystin Microcystins—or cyanoginosins—are a class of toxins produced by certain freshwater cyanobacteria, commonly known as blue-green algae. Over 250 different microcystins have been discovered so far, of which microcystin-LR is the most common. C ...

s and toxins produced by cyanobacteria and has researched into the impact of the so-called '

blue-green algae Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, bl ...

" from drinking water supply. Her detection method is now used worldwide and was used by the World Health Organisation to develop drinking water safety standards, scientists are trained in it from Sri Lanka to fish farms in Scotland, and Lawton is investigating potential cancer treatments and positive uses such as digesting waste plastics in microbiology. She was made a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This socie ...

in 2021. Lawton is Professor of

Environmental Biology Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geogra ...

at the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

Education and career

Lawton studied Brewing and Microbiology and

Heriot Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and began her academic career in microbiology in the 1980s at the University of Surrey Center for Environmental Strategy. She then worked at Dundee University, for seven years and also obtained her PhD on "biological effects & significance of cyanobacterial peptide toxins", bringing a focus on cyanobacteria for the past 30 years. She became group research leader at Robert Gordon University (RGU)

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in 1994, and Full Professor in 2007, and is widely cited with substantial network of international collaborators including commercial partnerships. She lives in

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...

Research and publications

Lawton's research group investigates cyanobacteria and algae and

water treatment Water treatment is any process that improves the quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recreation or many other uses, inc ...

photocatalysis In chemistry, photocatalysis is the acceleration of a photoreaction in the presence of a catalyst. In catalyzed photolysis, light is absorbed by an adsorbed substrate. In photogenerated catalysis, the photocatalytic activity depends on the abi ...

and novel biofuels. She has 159 publications to date with 5985 citations, and has been invited to write book chapters and present to learned societies and research conferences globally. Lawton's research has been reported both in local press and nationally recognised in a political magazine as leading one of the breakthrough projects in Scotland, and also gave 'fun' science communications on biochemistry. Her formal list of research funding awards which is estimated to be over £10million to date, and publications are on ''Orcid'' or ''Researchgate'' A recent £1.4million collaboration with Queen's Belfast and St. Andrew's colleagues, under the banner of ''CyanoSol'' is looking at "in reservoir destruction of blue-green algae and their toxins".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawton, Linda Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British microbiologists Academics of Robert Gordon University Year of birth missing (living people) Living people