2023 Speakers

Professor Lorna Dawson graduated BSc in Geography, Edinburgh, and PhD in Soil Science, Aberdeen. She is Principal Scientist and Head of Forensic Soil Science at the James Hutton Institute, Visiting Professor at RGU, Chartered Scientist, Fellow of the Institute of British Soil Scientists, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. She was awarded a Pride of Britain award in 2017, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 2018. She is a certified advisor with the National Crime Agency, an Expert Witness, and holds diplomas in civil and criminal law, and has worked on over 150 cases with police, agencies, & lawyers across the UK and overseas. She has published over 100 scientific papers, books and book chapters on the subject and holds a diploma in Science Communication. She advises crime authors and TV programmes such as Silent Witness and appeared in the Royal Intuition‘s Christmas lectures 2022. She is KE Lead for the Environment for SEFARI (Scottish Environment Food Agriculture Research Institutes). She authored the RSA Scotland FFCC report, 2019, and is a Commissioner and co-lead in the Food, Farming and Countryside (FFCC) current devolved Scotland inquiry. She contributed to the Scottish Government Farmer Led Arable Climate Change Group report, 2021. She is currently on the scientific advisory committee for the Scottish Governments Agriculture Reform Implementation Oversight Board (ARIOB).