Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
I have been working at SRUC's Hill & Mountain Research Centre since 2002, initially joining as a sheep research technician then progressing to become a researcher.
Research interests
My current research interests focus predominantly on sheep production systems. More specifically:
- Investigating the genetic aspects of new and novel traits relating to production, health and welfare.
- The relationships between genetic and environmental influences on different production systems.
- Sheep breeding programmes.
- The use of technology in sheep farming & breeding programmes
- Hill sheep farming
Teaching
I teach on SRUC degree courses, mainly 3rd year students on animal breeding & genetics and the technologies used in breeding programmes. I also supervise at least one honours student each year.
Supervision
Fiona McAuliffe (co-supervisor) - Investigating causes of lamb loss on Highland farms and crofts. Joint with University of Edinburgh & Nature Scot, started 2019.
Eilidh Geddes (co-supervisor) - Holistic approach to internal parastie control on hill and upland sheep farms. Joint with the Moredun Research Institute and University of Edinburgh, started 2020.
Aimee Walker (co-supervisor) - Adopting precision livestock farming technologies to improve small ruminant management and welfare in grazing systems: Joint with Moredun Research Institute and University of Glasgow, started 2021.
Projects
Current
- 2019 – 2023 ICT-AGRI call : ‘On novel technologies, solutions and systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in animal production systems’ (Defra-funded) “Grass To Gas: Strategies to mitigate GHG emissions from pasture-based sheep systems” (with INRAE France; AgResearch NZ; Teagasc Ireland; NMBU Norway; INIA Uruguay; Sheep Ireland), €1.2M
- 2020 - 2022. InnovateUK. Smart Sheep (with Moredun and 6 addition partners). £245K.
- 2018-2022 EU H2020 (ID 772787) SMARTER: Small Ruminant Breeding for Efficiency and Resilience (with 27 organisations), €7M
- 2020 – 2024 EU H2020 (Innovative Action No. 862050) “TechCare: Integrating innovative technologies along the value chain to improve small ruminant welfare management” (with 18 other partners from 9 countries), €5.7M
- 2021- 2023 EU H2020 (Thematic Network No. 101000471) “Sm@RT: Small Ruminant Technologies” (with 10 other partners from 8 countries), €2M
- 2020 – 2023 EU H2020 (Thematic Network No. 863056) “EuroSheep: European network for interactive and innovative knowledge exchange on animal health and nutrition” (with 11 partners from 8 countries), €2M
Previous
- 2017-2020 ERA-Net Susan (funded by Defra) “SusSheP: Sustainable Sheep Production” (with University of Limerick, Teagasc, NSG, University of Oslo, INRAe), €800K
Other work
- BSAS Committee member (2018 – ongoing).
Education/Academic qualification
PhD, University of Edinburgh
2008 → 2014
Award Date: 1 Jul 2014
Master, University of Edinburgh
2006 → 2007
Award Date: 1 Nov 2007
Bachelor, University of Aberdeen
1998 → 2002
Award Date: 1 Jul 2002
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Network
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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RESAS 22-27: SRUC-b2-2 Breeding And Management Strategies For Sheep In The Scottish Hills And Uplands, To Meet Future Economic, Environmental And Climatic Challenges
Lambe, N., McCracken, D., Holland, J., Holland, J., McCracken, D., Livingstone, F. & McLaren, A.
Scottish Government: Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services
1/04/22 → 31/03/27
Project: Research
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RESAS Strategic Research Programme 2016-21 WP2.3 Productive and sustainable land management
Wall, E., Smith, S., Nicoll, L., Parker, J., Robertson, D., Davidson, R., Donbavand, J., Anderson, C., Roehe, R., Harrison, B., Purcell, L., Duthie, C., Gunn, G., Pritchard, T., Jones, S., Bagnall, A., Vosough Ahmadi, B., Archibald, I., Rees, B., Eory, V., Glenk, K., Edwards, T., Buckingham, S., March, M., Broadbent, C., Cloy, J., Hargreaves, P., Wishart, H., Griffiths, B., Fox, N., Sparks, N., Shrestha, S., Banos, G., Henry, M., Watson, C., Dickinson, J., Topp, K., Burnett, F., Kyle, J., Denholm, S., Dewhurst, R., Lawson, D., McCubbin, I., Dwyer, C., Holland, J., McCracken, D., Barratt, A., Havis, N., Stanisz-Migal, M., Miller, G., Bowen, J., Hutchings, M., Creissen, H., D'Eath, R., Baddeley, J., Houdijk, J., Coffey, M., Morgan-Davies, C., Walker, R., Turner, S., Haskell, M., Barnes, A., Athanasiadou, S., Cole, L., Sandilands, V., McLaren, A., MacLeod, M. & Smith, L.
1/04/19 → 31/03/20
Project: Research
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Livestock's role in food system resilience in remote, upland regions
McCracken, D., Shrestha, S., Thomson, S., Holland, J., Morgan-Davies, C., Barnes, A. & McLaren, A.
1/11/17 → 31/05/22
Project: Research
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Development into sustainable sheep production: SusSheP
Morgan-Davies, C., Lambe, N. & McLaren, A.
UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
1/04/17 → 31/07/20
Project: Research
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Sharing expertise and experience towards sheep productivity through NET working (SheepNET)
Dwyer, C., Vipond, J., Morgan-Davies, C., Camerlink, I., Frater, P. & McLaren, A.
1/07/16 → 31/10/19
Project: Research
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Attitudes of European small ruminant farmers towards new digital technologies
McLaren, A., Depuille, L., Katzman, N., Bar-Shamai, A., Halachmi, I., Grova, L., Keady, T., McClearn, B., Giovanetti, V., Piirsalu, P., Nagi, O., Gautier, J-M., Kenyon, F. & Morgan-Davies, C., 1 Sept 2022, Book of Abstracts of the 73rd Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science. Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers, Vol. 28. p. 397 1 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
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Calibration of a novel Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) monitoring device in a sheep grazing environment
Walker, A., Jonsson, N., Waterhouse, TW., McDougall, H., Kenyon, F., McLaren, A. & Morgan-Davies, C., Aug 2022.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
Open AccessFile15 Downloads (Pure) -
Can genetic propensity for lambing difficulty be predicted by pelvic and body shape dimensions measured by X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning of ram lambs?
McLaren, A., McLean, KA., Gordon, J. & Lambe, NR., Nov 2022, In: Small Ruminant Research. 216, 106790.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile17 Downloads (Pure) -
Labour use at lambing in mountain areas in Northern Europe – issues and opportunities
Morgan-Davies, C., Boman, I. A., Creighton, P. & McLaren, A., 15 Sept 2022.Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract
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Variation in reticulo-rumen volumes between and within sheep breeds and genetic relationships with production traits
Lambe, N. R., McLaren, A., McLean, K., Gordon, J. & Conington, J., Apr 2022, In: Animal Production Science. 62, 7, p. 610-621 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile25 Downloads (Pure)