Gordon's 'coming home' to head new research operation

PROFESSOR Iain Gordon, who is currently working in Australia, has been named as the chief executive designate to lead Scotland's new crop, food and land use research organisation.

The new and as yet unnamed institute will be formed from the merger of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (MLURI) in Aberdeen and SCRI, Scotland's leading crop research centre, based at Invergowrie near Dundee.

The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute currently employs around 300 staff and has an income of over 16 million. It has expertise in land use and sustainable development. In addition to its core research programmes, the institute provides research and consultancy services to a wide range of organisations, including industrial sectors as diverse as oil and gas, and food.

The Scottish Crop Research Institute also employs around 300 staff and has an income of nearly 17 million. Its scientists work on potato and soft fruit breeding, pests and disease control, food quality, plant-land interactions and genetics.

Scotland's unique biomathematical and statistical organisation (BioSS) is part of the SCRI group and has offices in Edinburgh, Dundee and at the Macaulay. It will be part of the new institute.

Professor Gordon, who holds both British and Australian nationality, is currently leading biodiversity research teams across various centres for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Canberra. CSIRO is the national government body for scientific research in Australia.

Professor Gordon, who is 50, is a University of Aberdeen zoology honours graduate and was awarded his PhD by the University of Cambridge. He worked at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute in Aberdeen leading the ecology group before moving to Australia in 2003.

Professor Gordon said: "I am very honoured to have been asked to become the CEO of Scotland's new research institute. Scotland has a long tradition of outstanding scientific innovation; I look forward to returning to Scotland to work with the new institute's staff and board to catalyse world class science that will help tackle future challenges in agriculture and the environment, not only in Scotland but across the globe".

The chairman of the new institute's governing board, Ray Perman, added, "The exciting potential of the new institute attracted some exceptional candidates to lead it, but Iain Gordon stood out. The board were unanimous that he has the skills and experience to create a world class scientific research organisation from the merger of Macaulay and SCRI, which can bring economic and environmental benefits to Scotland and the globe."

The plan to bring MLURI and SCRI together was announced to the Scottish Parliament by the First Minister, Alex Salmond MSP, in January 2008. The intention is to strengthen Scotland's rural-environmental research capacity and further enhance international competitiveness.

Richard Lochhead, cabinet secretary for rural affairs and the environment, said: "The new institute will be one of the largest of its kind in Europe and will underpin Scotland's long-standing reputation on the world stage as a centre of scientific and research expertise.

"This organisation will make a major contribution to key global issues, such as food security, biodiversity, and how climate change will affect the way we use land and grow crops.

"I am delighted that we have secured a person of the calibre of Iain Gordon to lead the new institute. Iain knows Scotland well and he will also bring valuable international experience."