ADAS

Welcome to the team Lucy! ✨ Lucy joins us as Commercial Bids & Marketing Assistant at our Boxworth office 📍 "Over the years I have been in Marketing Co-ordinator/Assistant roles and most recently as Communications & Development Officer for a small charity, Caring Matters Now. During my 16 years involvement with Caring Matters Now, I designed and implemented the charity brand and marketing comms materials, facilitated support and fundraising events in addition to national exhibition attendance, and managed the website and social media platforms. My biggest work achievement has been the execution of the ‘How do you C Me Now?’ exhibition and global awareness campaign for Caring Matters Now. ‘How do you C Me Now?’ was a photographic exhibition to raise awareness of Congenital Melanocytic Neavus, a rare skin condition with added medical complications, to change society’s perceptions of appearing different and give a clear message to ‘love the skin you’re in’. I love spending time with my family and friends, watching my kids play football, and long walks in the country with my pup Darcy."

Meet our Biotechnology team ✨ Our Biotechnology is the smallest business within the ADAS group, based in the Midlands. Our laboratory-based team focus on creating and using advanced tools to detect biological targets, such as specific species or whole ecosystems via environmental DNA (eDNA). We work with various sample types, such as water, soil, plants, invertebrates, and air, applying cutting-edge techniques such as real-time PCR and next-generation DNA sequencing 🔬   Our work supports clients and other businesses by providing tailored diagnostic solutions for their survey needs. Beyond DNA-based methods, we have extensive expertise in developing tests for livestock prion diseases (Scrapie in sheep), and developing new antibody-based tests for infectious diseases often using a technique known as Phage display to discover new reagents for diagnostics 🦠   Analytical Services and R&D we provide:   🦎 Development and delivery of molecular diagnostics in the area of environmental DNA analysis: Detecting rare or invasive species, or describing whole communities of species 🧫 Microbiome Analysis: Determination of microorganisms that live within a specific environment 🌱 Crop/soil health diagnostics 🐑 TSE Diagnostics: Scrapie in sheep 💉 Immunoassay Development: Bioanalytical tests that use antibodies to identify and measure the presence of a target in a biological sample 👨🔬 Phage display: Peptide and antibody display technologies If you'd like to find out more about our Biotechnology team, you can find their work here 👇 https://lnkd.in/e8vEsSAR

How do you solve a problem like Ergot – a cereal crop fungal infection which produces mycotoxins lethal to animals and humans? 🌾🔍 Our crop pathology team, commissioned by AHDB - Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, is conducting research throughout 2025 to better understand ergot infection. The goal? To update practical management guidelines for growers. Learn more about the project here: https://lnkd.in/ezNPT2XV We’ve just completed Step 1: Burying ergot sclerotia 2cm deep to allow them to survive winter frost and undergo the necessary cold treatment (vernalisation) to germinate - only a crop pathologist would wish for that! If these germinate, they will hopefully produce fruiting bodies that cause infection so we can continue our investigation 🌱🔍 Stay tuned for updates as we dig deeper into this fascinating research throughout 2025. Anastasia Sokolidi #ergot #cropresearch #croppathology #arablefarming

Welcome to the team Jamie! Jamie joins us as an Assistant Ecological Consultant at our Boxworth site ⭐ Speaking of his experience so far, he says "It has been so great meeting the team and getting stuck in, everyone has been so welcoming and I cannot wait to see what 2025 will bring!" We're delighted to have you join us, Jamie 🙌

Meet John ⭐ Tell us about your role John! "I’m a principal consultant in the weed science team. Developing and promoting the use of integrated weed management in the main for arable weeds. We also have a focus on grassland and work closely with the Horticulture team" Sounds very interesting, what do you get up to day-to-day? "Most days are a combination of projects and other meetings, report-writing and data reviews although I do still get out into the field to support the work of the field trial teams on weed management and control. Currently, I'm spending time working with the weed science team to explore new opportunities and to deal with the challenge of sustainable weed management; it's such an exciting time with simultaneous changes in crop production systems and the emergence and maturation of new tools for weed control. Day-to-day there is certainly more working from home and virtual meetings and while the flexibility that brings is really positive there's no substitute for water-cooler moments in the office, especially for someone who has just joined the team, so I try to spend 2 or 3 days a week at the office near Cambridge." What is your favourite part about your role? "I was immediately impressed by ADAS's approach to developing and mentoring new talent - It has to be a real priority for weed science in the UK. As specialism, we haven't has enough focus on this in the past. ADAS's attitude and willingness to invest in developing their own talent has been a real breath of fresh air and something I really wanted to be part of. My favourite parts of the role are understanding emerging weed problems (new species and new resistance traits) and supporting the uptake of new tools like Harvest weed seed capture and precision mechanical weeding." And how do you spend your spare time, John? "I am a bit of a football nut; I play a bit and coach my daughter's football team. I will occasionally do some plant twitching but to be honest there's so much opportunity for that at work it seems unnecessary!"

🥁🥁...and the ADAS 2024 CFB Award for Ecological Excellence goes to… ADAS Principal Ecologist Simon Fawcett! 🎉🎉 We introduced the CFB award last year in fond memory and as a fitting tribute to our former Welsh Ecology lead Chris Forster Brown (1966-2022) At the ADAS ecology team's annual gathering, many nominated Simon for his invaluable contribution in 2024. Comments included: “Many of us have benefited from his guidance, mentorship, and reassurance” and “Simon consistently goes above and beyond to make sure everyone is supported” – praise indeed! 📸 Announced by Ecology Technical Director James Packer and presented by Senior Ecologist and CFB 2023 award winner Charlotte Alanine ACIEEM, Simon was delighted to receive the award 🏆 A huge congratulations to Simon! 👏👏 #ecology #careerachievement #teamwork Thomas Fairhurst Barry Wheeler

Are our soils in crisis? To mark this year's World Soils Day, our Soil Scientist Anne Bhogal reflects on the importance of prioritising soil health. We rarely pay much attention to it, but the soil beneath our feet is the foundation of all Earth’s ecosystems. Our living soils provide us with what scientists describe as a range of important ‘ecosystem services’. These include supplying our food and fibre through agriculture; storing carbon and regulating our climate; controlling the flow and quality of water; and supporting much of the planet’s biodiversity. Soils are highly variable, even within small geographical areas, and this affects what habitats they support and ultimately, what they can be used for. For example, while lowland mineral soils under arable and grassland management are important for food production, deep peats in upland areas under semi-natural habitats are important for carbon storage and climate regulation. Soils contain about three times the amount of carbon that is held in the atmosphere and are the largest terrestrial carbon store. Disturbing soils through drainage and cultivation causes the release of carbon dioxide and it has been estimated that cultivated (or arable) soils have lost up to 60% of their carbon compared to their ‘natural state’. This not only has consequences for the climate, but also has impacts on wider soil functioning. Protecting and improving soil health is therefore essential for sustainable food production and food security, water quality and flooding, as well as helping to mitigate climate change. As the importance of protecting our soils becomes increasingly apparent, there are policies and proposals at national and international levels to conduct further research and to implement measures to protect soil health. Agreeing indicators and monitoring criteria is important and great progress is being made in these areas to help bring soil health into the mainstream of the sustainable development agenda. Our research at ADAS on soil and nutrient management has contributed to both government policy and more practical on-farm advice, showing how soils can be managed sustainably by recycling organic materials to land, using cover crops and grass leys in the rotation and managing cultivations to minimise compaction. We have also been working in partnership with the agricultural industry to develop and test indicators of soil health to help farmers assess their soils and target soil management interventions more appropriately. The UK government has pledged to ensure that 60% of agricultural soils are under sustainable management by 2030, and measures in England such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) will pay farmers to protect and restore soil health through SOM testing and management. By managing soil organic matter through crop rotations, cover crops, organic material inputs and tillage, it is possible to minimise soil degradation. #NationalSoilsDay

Our software developer Antonio spent his volunteering days doing something extraordinary this year... "I want to thank ADAS for letting me take the time to help during the devastating floods in Valencia at the end of October. It was heartbreaking more than 200 lives were lost, millions of properties were destroyed, and vast areas of crops were gone in just a few hours. On the day I volunteered, I went with a friend to help another friend whose house had been flooded nearly two meters deep. A bike trip that usually takes 20 minutes took almost an hour because the roads were so badly damaged and full of debris. Once we arrived, we worked with shovels to clear mud from his garage and entrance. Despite our best efforts, we could only manage to clear the entrance. The amount of mud in the garage was staggering—it would take heavy machinery or a large team of volunteers to clear it. Even though ADAS kindly allowed me two days to volunteer on the flooding, I decided to go just once. Authorities warned about the health risks of stagnant water. The contact of this water with cuts, open wounds and splashes on the eyes or mouth could cause infections. While I had boots and long trousers to protect myself for the first day, I didn’t have waterproof waders and didn’t want to take unnecessary risks. This whole experience was humbling. It’s hard to understand a natural disaster's full scale of destruction until you see it. I’m grateful to work with colleagues at ADAS who are building tools and models to help reduce the impact of these disasters and protect the environment. After seeing firsthand the damage these events can cause, I’m even more proud of a company for which one of its main objectives is to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change." #internationalvolunteeringday

It's live!🌳🎉 Well done to our Policy & Economics team and Stephenson Halliday for their work on this comprehensive review of how Local Planning Authorities decide on planning applications near protected ancient woodlands and ancient/veteran trees 🌳🌲 The project involved reviewing over 150 planning applications and appeals, as well as conducting interviews with local planning officers and the Planning Inspectorate to understand their assessment process. Two years of hard work went into this research so congratulations to the project lead Liz Lewis-Reddy and her team for bringing it all together 👏👏 #woodlands #ancienttrees #conservation #planning RSK Group ADAS Arboriculture Thomas Fairhurst

🎓 If you have resolved to improve your carbon management skills in 2025, we have 2 spaces left on our next short 'BASIS Greenhouse Gases, Carbon, and Climate Change Mitigation' training course running in January 👇 #climatechange #carbon #carbonfootprint #training