Sarah McKim appointed joint Deputy Director of International Barley Hub

The IBH promotes scientific discovery and innovation to future-proof barley, the predominant crop grown in Scotland.   

Climate change and other environmental challenges, coupled with an increasing demand for the crop means that research into genetics and breeding is vitally important to safeguard production and ensure a sustainable future for this most critical of crops. 

The IBH is part of a £62m investment through the Tay Cities Region Deal a partnership between local, Scottish and UK governments and the private, academic and voluntary sectors. 

Dr McKim is a Reader and Principal Investigator in the Division of Plant Sciences within the School and has been based at the Hutton since 2013. She leads an internationally recognised research programme investigating developmental genetics of cereals. Her diverse research is underpinned by exploitation and generation of enabling technologies for barley research, many of which were developed by scientists at IBH. She is currently studying routes to resilience in cereal crops. 

Dr McKim studied for her PhD in Botany at the University of British Columbia, Canada, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford. Alongside her research activities, she contributes to plant science teaching as well as graduate student supervision at Dundee. 

She said, “In my new role, I am looking forward to developing and enhancing the relationships between IBH and academics throughout the UK and around the world as we strive for resilient and sustainable crops.” 

Dr Houston is a barley geneticist who identifies and characterises lines of barley containing variation for important traits and genes, induces genetic diversity using gene editing and identifies the interactions between genes of interest. Dr Colas specialism is in barley meiosis and focusses on developing the cytogenic capacity for the crop.  

IBH Director, Professor Tim George, said, “We are trying something new with the management of the International Barley Hub where Kelly, Isabelle and Sarah will be leading on our three main portfolios of capacity, community and collaboration, respectively. 

“All three have long-term experience of working in the field of barley research and I am looking forward to working with them to deliver a dynamic IBH and ultimately improve the sustainability of the barley production system.” 

Adapted from original article published on the James Hutton Institute website.