The Macaulay Institute, formally the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and sometimes referred to simply as The Macaulay, is a research institute based at Aberdeen in Scotland, which is now part of the James Hutton Institute. Its work covers aspects such as

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

, soil and water conservation and climate change.

History

The Macaulay Institute for Soil Research was founded in 1930. A benefaction of £10,000 from one of Canada's Scottish sons,

Thomas Bassett Macaulay Thomas Bassett Macaulay, also known as T. B. Macaulay, (6 June 1860 – 1942) is a noted actuary of his era, a philanthropist; and was the founder of the Macaulay Institute, in 1930. It has been estimated that most of the world's Holstein cattle ...

, of the

Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada Sun Life Financial Inc. is a Canadian financial services company. It is primarily known as a life insurance company. Sun Life has a presence in investment management with over CAD$1.3 trillion in assets under management operating in a number o ...

was used to purchase 50 acres and buildings at Craigiebuckler in Aberdeen. Macaulay's aim was to improve the productivity of Scottish agriculture. Thomas Bassett Macaulay was a descendant of Macaulay family of Lewis, who were centred on the

Hebridean The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner a ...

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

. He was true to his Hebridean roots throughout his life, often giving large donations to Lewis, which funded various projects including a new library and a new wing at Lewis hospital. The new Macaulay Institute opened on a site near Bucksburn in April 1987. It was formed by the merger of the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research and the Hill Farm Research Organisation. The proposed merger was announced in December 1985 with the government anticipating that it would result in cost savings. It was established to carry out research in support of the agricultural industry, taking account of the interaction between the industry and other land users, and set in the context of the environmental objectives of the UK Government and the European Union. In April 2011, the Macaulay Institute merged with SCRI (Scottish Crop Research Institute) in Dundee to form the James Hutton Institute. The chief executive of the new institute is Professor Iain Gordon.

Research

Climate Change experiment at Culardoch - geograph

It is an international centre for research and consultancy on the environmental and social consequences of rural land uses. Interdisciplinary research across the environmental and social sciences aims to support the protection of natural resources, the creation of integrated land use systems, and the development of sustainable rural communities. With an annual income from research and consultancy of over £11million, the Macaulay Institute is the largest interdisciplinary research organisation of its kind in Europe. It is one of the main research providers to the Scottish Government and currently about 75% of the Macaulay's income is related to commissioned research programmes, principally on "Land Use and Rural Stewardship". The 300 staff and postgraduate students are drawn from over 25 countries, and conduct research in Scotland, across Europe and internationally, with a wide range of partner organisations. Their goal is that the research they undertake provides evidence that will help shape future environmental and rural-development policy both in Scotland and internationally. The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute was a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

since 1931. Commercial services are delivered through Macaulay Scientific Consulting Ltd, its subsidiary consultancy company.Macaulay Scientific Consulting Ltd
/ref> The mineral

Macaulayite Macaulayite is a red, earthy, monoclinic mineral, with the chemical formula ( Fe3+, Al)24 Si4 O43( OH)2. It was discovered in the 1970s by Jeff Wilson and named after the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland. The only known source of macaulay ...

is named after the institute.

Notable Directors

* William Ogg Gammie FRSE LLB (1930 to 1943) *

Donald McArthur Prof Donald Neil McArthur FRSE FRIC (1892-1965) was a 20th-century Scottish chemist who served as the Director of the Macaulay Institute for Soil Science from 1948 to 1958. Life He was born in Glasgow on 2 August 1892 the son of Donald McArthur ...

FRSE 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 soci ...

(1948 to 1958) *

Robert Lyell Mitchell Dr Robert Lyell Mitchell FRSE FRSC (3 June 1910 – 7 February 1982) was a 20th-century Scottish chemist and mountaineer. He was an expert on trace elements in soil and their effect on grazing animals, and served as the Director of the Macaulay I ...

(1968 to 1975) *

Thomas Summers West Thomas Summers West (18 November 1927 – 9 January 2010) was a British chemist. Life Early years He was born in 1927 in Peterhead, Scotland and educated at Old Tarbat Public School in Portmahomack and then Tain Royal Academy. He then studied ...

CBE, FRS,

(1975 to 1987)

Head of Microbiology

* Donald Webley

(1945 to 1975)

Affiliations

The Macaulay Institute is a member of the

Aberdeen Research Consortium The Aberdeen Research Consortium (ARC) is an alliance of Universities, Research Institutes and other institutions carrying out research-centred organisations in Aberdeen, Scotland. The fundamental role of ARC is: *to co-ordinate the research act ...

which also includes: * University of Aberdeen * FRS Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen * Rowett Research Institute *

Robert Gordon University Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU, is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthropist), ...

* Scottish Agricultural College

Current work

LADSS and AGRIGRID are examples of projects that are being undertaken at the institute.

References

External links

Macaulay Institute Official Site

Macaulay Scientific Consulting Ltd

James Hutton Institute
{{authority control Agriculture in Scotland Environment of Scotland Research institutes in Scotland Economy Directorates Public bodies of the Scottish Government Environmental research institutes Charities based in Aberdeen Agricultural research institutes in the United Kingdom Government research