Biology Professor wins Book Award

This month, Professor Kevin Laland in the School of Biology was awarded the British Psychological Society’s best academic book award for 2017 for his monograph, Darwin’s Unfinished Symphony:How Culture Made the Human Mind.

Drawing on his own groundbreaking research, Professor Laland’s book traces our rise from scavenger apes in prehistory to modern humans able to design iPhones, dance the tango, and send astronauts into space. The book describes how our species’ extraordinary capacity for cultural production, from the arts and language to science and technology, evolved from its animal roots. According to Laland, our culture is not only a magnificent end product of the evolutionary process, but was also a key driving force behind it. The truly unique characteristics of our species – our intelligence, language, teaching, and cooperation – are not adaptive responses to predators, disease or other external factors: rather, humans are creatures of their own making.

Professor Laland presented his book to huge crowds at this year’s Hay Book Festival. In a whistle-stop tour through three decades of research, Laland describes how investigations of animal behavior – from painting elephants to dancing cockatoos – sheds light on human origins. Animals imitate, innovate, and have remarkable traditions of their own. New scientific findings suggest that such learned and socially transmitted activities amongst our ancestors shaped our intellects through accelerating cycles of evolutionary feedback. Darwin’s Unfinished Symphony tells the story of the key advances, the false leads, and the scientific breakthroughs that led to a new understanding of how culture transformed human evolution, to generate a species unlike all others.

EGU "Outstanding Young Scientist" award to DEES biogeoscientist

Dr James Rae of the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences has been awarded the European Geosciences Union (EGU) "Outstanding Young Scientist" in the Biogeosciences (BG) Division as part of their announcement of 35 recipients of next year’s Union Medals and Awards, Division Medals, and Division Outstanding Young Scientists Awards.

The individuals, from both European and non-European countries, are honoured for their important contributions to the Earth, planetary and space sciences.

James' research focuses on reconstructing past climate change and its causes, with particular interests in the cause of recent glacial-interglacial cycles, and climate changes over the Cenozoic. To study these questions, James uses geochemical measurements on fossils, sediments, water and ice, with a special focus on the boron isotope proxy for pH. Recent research highlights include new estimates of tropical ocean temperatures over the last 5 million years (DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2194), and a new mechanism for the end of the last ice age (DOI: 10.1002/2013PA002570).

The recipients will receive their prizes at the EGU 2015 General Assembly, which will take place in Vienna on 12–17 April  2015.

Sweeping success at British Archaeological Awards

Projects run by Jo Hambly, Ellie Graham and Tom Dawson of the School of History have won in two of the five categories at the prestigious, biennial British Archaeological Awards 2014, with a third project being Highly Commended. Tom picked up the awards at a ceremony in the British Museum on Monday 14th July, collecting the award for Best Archaeological Innovation for their ShoreUPDATE app from TV presenter and gastronome, Loyd Grossman; and the award for Best Community Engagement Archaeology Project for the Scotland's Coastal Heritage at Risk Project from Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Culture, Ed Vaizey. Their Wemyss Caves 4D website (http://4dwemysscaves.org/), developed with the Save Wemyss Ancient Caves Society and the York Archaeological Trust, was Highly Commended in the Best Public Presentation of Archaeology category.

ShoreUPDATE app:  An app and interactive website that presents the results of 15 years of survey and research at the coast, allowing individuals to access and correct data on the coastal heritage in their area and add additional information that updates the project database. Visit the interactive map of sites at risk: http://www.scharp.co.uk/sites-at-risk.

Scotland's Coastal Heritage at Risk Project (www.scharp.co.uk): SCAPE developed the Scotland Coastal Heritage at Risk Project so that researchers could involvethe public to more effectively tackle the important national issue of coastal erosion. The team's philosophy is that eroding coastal heritage provides opportunities for everyone to enjoy and benefit from taking part in archaeological and historical exploration and discovery. 

Wemyss Caves 4D (http://4dwemysscaves.org/):  The Wemyss Caves in Fife contain the highest number of Pictish carvings in the world. Cutting edge digital recording and interpretation of the caves and carvings has made them accessible to all. Start your journey of discovery here.

Congratulations to IPMI Graduate Student Award winner

Congratulation to Adrian Gomez Suarez of the School of Chemistry for being selected the winner of the International Precious Metals Institute (IPMI) Graduate Student Award. The award recognizes and encourages outstanding work by a graduate student in precious metals research. Mr Gomez Suarez recounts, "My PhD project is focused on the synthesis, characterisation and reactivity of gold complexes bearing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands. During the past decade gold complexes have been shown to be highly active catalysts for a wide variety of organic transformations. The development and study of NHC-gold complexes is therefore of great importance to a wide range of researchers in the chemistry community. Our studies have contributed to a better understanding of the chemistry of gold-NHC complexes in general, and led to significant further developments in the chemistry of dinuclear gold species. Several of the gold complexes developed as result of our studies are now commercially available."

The award will be presented in Orland, Florida, in June. 

Geology graduate wins Young Innovator Challenge

2013 Earth & Environmental Sciences graduate, David Townsend, has won the Renewables Category of the Young Innovators Challenge, a scheme run by the Scottish Institute for Enterprise on behalf of the Scottish Government. David is one of five talented young graduates to have impressed the judges with his business plans during a tense process to claim a £50,000 award and one year of dedicated business support to turn his ideas into reality. David’s proposal is to develop a Geothermal consultancy which will provide predictions of potential hot saline aquifer geothermal targets within Scotland, with the aim of attracting key stakeholders to facilitate one or more district heating schemes. We wish David the very best of luck with his endeavour!

D. Townsend, left, with three of the winners of the
Young Innovators Challenge and Fiona Godsman - CEO of SIE

SCMS Dissertation Award received by Film Studies lecturer

Dr. Brian Jacobson, lecturer in the Department of Film Studies, has received a major award from the Society for Cinema and Media Studies, winning the prestigious Dissertation Award for his work, "Studios Before the System: Architecture, Technology, and Early Cinema." Dr. Jacobson's dissertation was completed at The University of Southern California in 2012 and links
film studies with the history of architecture, and science and technology studies to examine the manner in which the early motion picture studio, as developed by Edison, Méliès, and other pioneers, interpreted developments in urban modernism while also having an impact on early film aesthetics. The formal announcement of the award was made at the Award Ceremony of the 2013 SCMS Conference in Chicago on Friday afternoon, March 8, 2013.

Prof. Morris receives Royal Society award

Professor Russell Morris, of the School of Chemistry, has recently been awarded the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation 2012.

Prof. Morris was given the award in recognition of technology he has developed that could significantly improve wound healing in people, such as those who suffer from diabetes, the elderly and the obese. The innovation could also greatly cut associated woudn treating costs to the NHS.

The Brian Mercer Award for Innovation is a scheme for scientists who wish to develop an already proven concept or prototype into a near-market product ready for commercial exploitation. Prof. Morris will receive funding from the Royal Society to develop the technology further so that it can be clinically trialled. The award was presented to Prof. Morris on 5 December in London by The Duke of York.

Prestigious award for Prof. Fawcett's latest book

Professor Richard Fawcett’s book, The Architecture of the Scottish Medieval Church, has been awarded the prestigious Alice Davis Hitchcock Medallion of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. The Alic Davis Hitchcock Medallion is given annually to the author of the best architectural history book published in the past four years by a British author, or by a foreign author on a British architectural historical subject. The award was instituted by Professor Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1903-87). Professor Hitchcock was one of the greatest architectural historians of the twentieth century.

Prof. Fawcett, of the School of Art History, gave a talk to the British Archaeological Association in Burlington House on 3 October on the AHRC-funded Corpus of Scottish Medieval Parish Churches project, which he is carrying out with Dr Julian Luxford (also of the School of Art History) and Prof. Richard Oram (of University of Stirling). He has published widely on many aspects of architectural history and is currently leading an AHRC-funded research project looking at the medieval parish churches of Scotland. Richard is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and of the Societies of Antiquaries of London and Scotland and was appointed OBE in 2008. 

Royal Society Medal for Early Career Researcher

Dr Sharon Ashbrook, Reader in Physical Chemistry has been awarded the Royal Society of Edinburgh Makdougall Brisbane Medal, recognising her excellent achievements as an early career researcher in the physical sciences and for her leadership record and commitment to excellence in all areas of academic life.

Dr Ashbrook is at the forefront of research into solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy. Her current research interests focus on the development of new methods in solid-state NMR, particularly for quadrupolar nuclei, such as ¹⁷O, ²³Na and ²⁷Al. She is also interested in the application of these methods to a wide range of systems including minerals, zeolites and ceramics. More recently, Sharon has developed an interest in the application of first-principles calculations of NMR parameters in the solid state.

Prestigious US award for St Andrews Geologist

Dr Tony Prave, Department of Earth Sciences, has been elected a Fellow of the Geological Society of America.  This prestigious award is in recognition of Tony’s leading role in piecing together the history of the Earth during the Neoproterozoic, some 750 to 550 million years ago, and in mentoring outstanding young scientists. Tony’s work is based on detailed field investigations over many decades in Scotland, western North America and southern Africa that highlighted an environment that ranged from glaciations enveloping the whole globe to equally extensive, abnormally tropical conditions. Through careful geochemical and isotopic analysis of the rock record, Tony and co-workers have helped to unravel the surficial and deep Earth processes driving this period of extreme environmental perturbations.

Prof Bruce honoured with AkzoNobel award for chemical research

Professor Peter Bruce, FRS, of the School of Chemistry, has been awarded the AkzoNobel UK Science Award for his outstanding contributions in the fields of solid state chemistry and electrochemistry. Prof. Bruce’s fundamental chemical research could help transform the range of electric vehicles and make renewable energy more viable. Among his achievements, Prof. Bruce has conducted ground-breaking research into nanostructured intercalation electrodes and polymer electrolytes that underpin rechargeable lithium ion batteries. He received the award and £50,000 at a ceremony at the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in London on February 7. [press link][video link]

Academician Award Announced

 

Congratulations to Professor Stephen Reicher of the School of Psychology who has recently been conferred the award of Academician by the Academy of Social Sciences. He is one of 70 individuals thus recognised for his distinguished contribution to the social sciences.

Silver Award from International EPR Society

Graham Smith, of the School of Physics and Astronomy, has been awarded the Silver Medal for Instrumentation by the International Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) Society along with Keith Earle of University at Albany, NY. The award was in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the design and implementation of quasi-optical techniques for High Field EPR instrumentation.

Prestigious award received

Professor Andrew Whiten, Professor of Evolutionary and Developmental Psychology and Wardlaw Professor of Psychology at the University of St Andrews, has been awarded the Osman-Hill Memorial Medal by the Primate Society of Great Britain at the Winter Meeting of the Society held in the Zoological Society.