Julie Graham Editor & Author

Dr. Julie Graham leads the Soft Fruit and Perennial Crops Group at the James Hutton Institute. Julie is a past holder of Jones Bateman Cup (2009-2011) awarded by Royal horticultural Society for outstanding contribution to soft fruit research. In the main Julies work involves formulating research hypotheses, the solutions of which lead to products and processes that aid economic sustainability, development and expansion in the UK soft fruit sector. Julie’s career raison d'etre is to associate genotypic differences in traits, and trait development, with specific genes and determine the importance of these using genetic mapping approaches, genome sequencing, gene expression analyses and small mapping population/association studies. The traits that have been the focus of her research include pest and disease resistance, fruit quality, ripening, season extension, nutrition and architectural traits, sustainability in the light of changing weather patterns and primocane-fruiting. Julie’s group have recently pioneered on farm real time hyperspectral imaging as a new tool linking genotype to phenotype. Julie sits on various advisory bodies and works closely with industry to ensure research leads to tangible outputs that are adopted by the sector.
Dr. Rex Brennan has worked for over 30 years as a fruit breeder at the James Hutton Institute, and has bred several commercially successful cultivars of blackcurrant.  His most recent work has focused on the integration of molecular and physiological techniques into breeding strategies for fruit crops.  Additionally, he has particular interests in the present and emerging effects of environmental stresses on fruit production, especially regarding winter chilling and dormancy interactions.  Rex is a past holder of the Jones-Bateman Cup and is a present holder of the Scottish Horticultural Medal awarded by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society.