Verity focuses predominantly on carrying out site and soil surveys for Forestry and Land Scotland. In addition, she delivers specialist soils advice and training for forestry staff, primarily related to soil and site conditions and the implications for tree species selection and plant ecology. She believes that communicating science can be a blend of creativity and logic to help promote an understanding of its wider relevance, to encourage more informed decision making in the forestry sector. She works closely with current research on long-term sustainable forestry, with a focus on soil sustainability and silvicultural practices. Verity is a fully qualified botanist, trained at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Her training focused on plant ecology and the interspecific connection of different plants and fungi to the below ground soil type, soil health and soil biota. Cryptogamic species were the dominant taxa she focussed on and include; lichens, mosses, liverworts and fungi. She has a passion for soil mycology and the plant-soil microbial interactions both at cellular and forest stand level. By harnessing the latest research in soil mycology and species interaction helps us to unravel the complexities of soil and see it from a holistic perspective to therefore enable suitable methods in forest practice and the way in which we maintain our forest soils for the wider picture.
Verity Joined us in November 2018, after completing her MSc in Taxonomy and Biodiversity of Plants, at the University of Edinburgh and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2017. Her thesis focused on woodland ecology with impetus to developing a novel survey methodology for synthesising epiphytic (tree-dwelling) lichens, mosses and liverworts species and assessing their biodiversity within Scotland. Verity’s research is now in development to deliver a national project to help the forestry community understand the diversity, ecology, and conservation importance of Scottish epiphytes, and to measure, monitor and consider epiphytes in practical forest/woodland management.
Affiliations
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh- Forest Cryptogam Biodiversity Scotland Advisory Group and committee member.
British Soil Society- member
British Lichen Society Advisory Group
