GLENN IASON - (coordinator)
An ecologist with 23 years experience of research, mainly in plant-herbivore interactions. He has experience of work with a broad range of animal species (hares and rabbits, African buffalo, moose and domestic species) in a range of ecosystems including Arctic and Boreal forests, including pine forests, moorland, African savanna and agricultural environments. Glenn has research interests in the chemical ecology of tree-browsing by mammalian herbivores, and the broader community and ecosystem consequences of the phyto-chemical variation and plant-herbivore interaction. He is a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Applied Ecology and Forest Ecology and Management.
email: g.iason@macaulay.ac.uk

DR. COLIN CAMPBELL is a soil microbiologist with 16 years experience of research mainly in environmental microbiology and ecology. He has experience of work with a broad range of ecosystems, including pine forests and moorland. He is an expert on microbial community analysis using physiological and molecular methods using such approaches to investigate ecosystem functioning with respect to the decomposition of organic matter as well as their response to perturbation and pollution. Colin's current research includes studies of the peatlands, montane habitats, moorland colonisation by pine and birch and invasion of moorland by grasses. In Native Pine ecosystems he is interested in the role of monoterpenes in selecting rhizosphere microbial populations, their interactions with ectomycorrhiza and the consequences for nutrient cycling.
email: c.campbell@macaulay.ac.uk

DR. PETER DENNIS is an ecologist with entomological expertise and has worked primarily on habitat - species associations. He is interested in how land use affects the interactions between native species and their habitats, both locally and over larger geographical areas, where patterns of habitat can be an important consideration. Peter has studied how various insect, spider, bird and small mammal species or assemblages respond to the management of their habitats, ranging across native woodlands, farm woodlands, moorlands, upland grasslands, arid savannas to remnant habitats of farmland. In forest ecology, he has worked on a number of government forest and woodland wildlife research projects and has been involved in the Native Woodland Discussion Group, Forestry Research Co-ordination Committee and co-authored the Habitat Action Plan on Wet and Riparian Woodland for NE Scotland.
email: p.dennis@macaulay.ac.uk

PROF. ROBIN PAKEMAN is the acting leader of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute's programme on Ecology of Grazed Ecosystems. His current work is focused on understanding the relationships between vegetation structure and diversity and the ecological requirements of species to regenerate by seed. The effects of grazing animals are an integral part of this research, particularly how they control the opportunities for dispersal and the provision of niches. He has also been involved in a wide range of projects that deal with the management of vegetation for conservation and sustainable land use
email: r.pakeman@macaulay.ac.uk

DR. JACK LENNON is an ecologist with 17 years experience in analysing and modelling species distribution, climate and biodiversity patterns. He is particularly interested in relationships between species distribution patterns and climate, fractals and the role of spatial scale in ecology, and how species fit together to make biodiversity patterns.
email: j.lennon@macaulay.ac.uk

DR. IAN ANDERSON is a fungal ecologist. His main interests lie in the ecology of fungi in native ecosystems with an emphasis towards using molecular approaches for investigating the taxonomic and functional diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungi. He is also interested in the interaction between ectomycorrhizal and saproptrophic fungi and the respective roles they play in decomposition and nutrient cycling processes. Ian’s main areas of expertise include the application of molecular techniques for studying soil fungal communities.
email: i.anderson@macaulay.ac.uk

DR. VERA THOSS is a chemical ecologist with a strong background in analytical chemistry. The focus of her research is plant-derived secondary metabolites, in particular phenolics and terpenes, and the transformations within the environment. She obtained her PhD in 1999 on the 'chemical characterization of dissolved organic matter in natural matrices'. Since then Vera has investigated the production of secondary metabolites in plants and the effects that environmental conditions have upon these in terms of production by the plant itself and for humification dynamics.
email: v.thoss@macaulay.ac.uk

JOAN BEATON graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1998 with an Honours degree in Ecology and has spent time working on research projects including invertebrate biodiversity on farm land and farm-scale evaluations of GM crops. She has been working as an Ecologist on the PROBECO project since January 2002 where she is mainly involved in fieldwork such as vegetation recording and small mammal trapping
email: j.beaton@macaulay.ac.uk

JENNI STOCKAN graduated in 1998 from the University of Aberdeen with an honours degree in Ecology. She has worked as a research assistant on various projects including the evolutionary development of centipedes at Sunderland University. Jenni joined the PROBECO project in 2002 to undertake work on insect herbivory and has recently completed a MSc in Wildlife Biology and Conservation at Napier University.
email: j.stockan@macaulay.ac.uk

PROF. IAN ALEXANDER FRSE is Regius Professor of Botany in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Aberdeen. He is an Ecologist, with a particular interest in the ecology and physiology of mycorrhizal symbioses. He has worked on Scottish moorland and forest vegetation, as well as in the Arctic and in the tropical rainforest.
email: i.alexander@abdn.ac.uk

DR. STEVE CHAPMAN has 30 years of experience in research in microbiology; his particular expertise lies in determining the role of microbial processes in nutrient cycling within the plant-soil-microbe ecosystem. He has contributed to investigations on soil organic matter turnover, quantifying and determining the influence of chemical structure and soil conditions on the decomposition processes. Current studies are concerned with soil quality as applied to organic soils and its assessment using microbial parameters, particularly novel measures of microbial activity and biodiversity using multi-substrate techniques. He is co-ordinating an EC project on peatland restoration and is also involved with a project on C and N modelling in organic soils and the influence of land use change.
email: s.chapman@macaulay.ac.uk

DR. GRAHAM OSLER is a community ecologist working on soil fauna, particularly mites. He is interested in the determinants of community structure and the role of soil fauna in processes such as decomposition and nitrogen transformations. Graham previously worked in native and agricultural systems in Australia and Canada where he investigated the effects of different plant species on soil mites and the interaction between soil mesofauna, decomposing residues and other elements of the soil biota.
email: g.osler@macaulay.ac.uk

DAVID SIM has 27 years experience in animal related research. His previous work focused on improving the reproductive performance in hill and upland sheep. Having worked with Glenn Iason for 16 years he is now involved in studying the relationship between nutrition, behaviour and diet diversity in mammalian herbivores. Dave is also involved in studying the effects of herbivore browsing on woodland regeneration. He has been involved in the PROBECO project since the outset and his main activities include tree measurements and small mammal trapping.
email: d.sim@macaulay.ac.uk