Pete is a plant biologist and ecologist, who studies the complex interactions which determine the sustainability of food- and feed-systems, including those of the brewing, distilling and aquaculture industries. He delivers key research programmes to support the Scottish Government’s strategic research program, and by securing layered funding builds international research and development networks and programmes. Pete is also an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Dundee, and his research is strongly focused on legume-supported cropped systems, from production to consumption. This includes developing the use of underutilised crops and novel cropped systems, plus the implementation of additional innovations beyond the farm-gate that encourage greater resource use efficiency, improved ecosystem functions, and realisation of circular economies. To facilitate this, Pete develops and exploits various system-function and -accounting tools from the genetics and genomics of plant growth promoting microbes and the soil microbiome, to tools which are ‘data driven’ - such as agri-food system modelling, including Life Cycle Analysis. He works very closely with a wide range of industry and applied-science stakeholders, and provides extension services to value-chain actors, including policymakers.
