The Scottish Government has recently published an evaluation of its 2016-22 food and environment research programme, in which we were pleased to see BioSS work highlighted.

Particular attention was paid to our work in human health and nutrition, including the economic impacts and community benefits of our FoodSwap tool, as well the Covid-19 wastewater monitoring scheme, for which we developed a data analysis pipeline.

The highlights report which summarises the key conclusions reads "The Rowett Institute and BioSS developed a FoodSwap tool to enable more sustainable yet nutritious and affordable food choices. This tool featured on the SEFARI blog and, as a result of SEFARI Gateway Responsive Opportunity Funding, is now available on the internet as a demo model ("Greatest Grocery List"). The researchers intend to further test and refine the model and have already contacted the NHS and groups at Scotland Food & Drink. This free to use tool can help individuals have a healthier diet."

Read the SEFARI blog and try the FoodSwap tool for yourself! 

On the topic of Covid-19 wastewater, the highlights report mentions "Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW) were involved in developing a method to track the presence of Covid-19 in wastewater. This led to the formation of a wastewater monitoring network for Covid‑19. By 2021, the network covered around 70% of the Scottish population. It helped provide information to the Scottish Government for the public health response during the pandemic." BioSS was funded by the Scottish Government to statistically analyse and visualise the Covid-19 wastewater data, reporting the latest findings to the Scottish Government and other stakeholders on a weekly basis.

We're very happy to see the impact of our work recognised by the Scottish Government. Read about our current work in the 2022-2027 research programme on Sustainable Agriculture, Large-scale and Systems Modelling, and Biodiversity and Ecosystem Tools.