Prof Steve Albon

Steve Albon was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's National Academy of Sciences & Letters, in 2008. He has held an Honorary Chair at the University of Aberdeen since 1997.

Steve coordinates the Environment - Land Use and Rural Stewardship research programme for the Scottish Government. The programme is contributing to the evidence base needed to achieve a balance between various land uses that shape and sustain multi-functional rural landscapes and communities. The work involves economic and social scientists, as well as, natural scientists, from Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS), Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scottish Crops Research Institute and Scottish Agricultural College (SAC), as well as the Macaulay Institute.

Steve is also Deputy Director of the Centre of Excellence in Epidemiology, Population health and Infectious disease Control (EPIC). Funded by the Scottish Government the EPIC initiative is intended to deliver an evidence base for shaping policy and decision-making, informing industry and business about animal infections, providing practical solutions, and enriching science at all levels. EPIC involves collaboration between the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow with the Macaulay Institute, Moredun Institute, SAC and BioSS. Steve is involved in research on tick-borne diseases in wildlife and liver fluke in domestic livestock.

More recently, Steve has become Co-Chair, with Prof. Robert Watson, Chief Scientist Defra, of the National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA). Over the next two years the NEA will provide 1) a synthesis of the state and trends in the natural environment and provision of ecosystem services, 2) an evaluation of future scenarios to 2050 and possible policy options to enhance ecosystem services for human well-being and future economic prosperity.

Currently Steve is a member of the British Council, Science Expert Group, advising them on an integrated science portfolio around the world. In the recent past he was Chair of the Scottish Biodiversity Forum, Science Group, which represents a wide range of scientific institutions, government departments and agencies, NGOs, etc. advising the Scottish Government on the science underpinning Scotland's Biodiversity Strategy.

Research Interests

Steve is best known for his involvement in the long-term research on the population ecology of red deer on the Isle of Rum, and Soay sheep on St.Kilda. Currently, he is collaborating with Mick Crawley (Imperial), in supervising a NERC Open CASE student, Ana Bento, on the influence of weather on plant growth over almost 30 years on Rum and 20 years on St. Kilda. With colleagues at Macaulay he is analysing how the red deer population in Scotland has grown in relation to an ameliorating climate and the likely effects of the recent reduction in sheep grazing in the uplands.

Also, Steve is involved with a long-term, Anglo-Norwegian, project exploring the effects of host-parasite interactions on the population dynamics of reindeer on Svalbard. Here in the Arctic a species of gastro-intestinal parasite, ingested as free-living larvae on the tundra vegetation, regulates the reindeer population by depressing fecundity as burdens in individual reindeer rise following host population increases. Now with Ken Wilson (Lancaster) and a NERC Open CASE student, Anja Carlsson, he is exploring the role of a second species of gut parasite which, rather amazingly, appears to be transmitted in the winter, and therefore may influence reindeer survival.

Steve's most recent publications

• The effect of landscape heterogeneity and host movement on a tick-borne pathogen., Jones, E.; Webb, S.D.; Ruiz-Fons, J.F.; Albon, S.; Gilbert, L., (In press) Theoretical Ecology.

• RERAD Research Programme 3: Delivering Knowledge for Scotland's Biodiversity., Brooker, R.W.; Albon, S.; Hester, A.; Pakeman, R.P., (2010) Presentation to Scottish Biodiversity Committee, 9 March 2010.

• Getting the timing right: antler growth phenology and sexual selection in a wild red deer population., Clements, M.N.; Clutton-Brock, T.H.; Albon, S.D.; Pemberton, J.M. Loeske E. B. Kruuk, (2010) Oecologia, Published online.

• Is there a cost of parasites to caribou?, Hughes, J.; Albon, S.D.; Irvine, R.J.; Woodin, S., (2009) Parasitology, 136, 253-265.

• Retreat from the hills: consequences for biodiversity., Irvine, R.J.; Albon, S.D., (2009) Forestry Commission and Scottish Natural Heritage, Silvan House Corstorphine, Edinburgh. Drop in poster session.

• Climate change and red deer population trends., Irvine, R.J.; Albon, S.D., (2009) Deer Commission for Scotland, Birnam Arts and Conference Centre, Birnam, Perthshire, 30th March 2009.

• Evaluating capture stress and its effects on reproductive success in Svalbard reindeer., Omsjoe, E.H.; Stien, A.; Irvine, RJ.; Albon, S.D.; Dahl, E.; Thoresen, S.I.; Rustad, E.; Ropstad, E. , (2009) Canadian Journal of Zoology, 87, 73-85.

• Managing conflicting goals in the uplands: consequences for biodiversity., Redpath, S.M.; Albon, S.D.; Irvine, R.J., (2009) Scotland's Changing Rural Biodiversity: Policy and Action Needs, Edinburgh Consortium for Rural Research, Battleby, Perth.

• Environmental change and drivers of the risk and spread of disease., Jones, E.; Gilbert, L.; Irvine, R.J.; Mcleod, J.; Albon, S.D., (2008) Meeting of Epidemiology Centre of Excellence, 26 February 2008.

• Environmental change and drivers for the risk and spread of disease., Jones, E.; Gilbert, L.; McLeod, J.; Irvine, R.J.; Albon, S.D., (2008) Scottish Animal Health and Welfare Conference, organised by SAC, Dunkeld, November 2008.