School researchers Professor Amy Pederson and Dr Annis Richardson have been successful in Royal Society of Edinburgh’s recent award announcements. Amy Pederson – RSE FellowProfessor Amy Pedersen, is one of 43 new fellows elected to the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2026.The RSE was founded in 1783 and leverages the combined knowledge of its 1,800-strong Fellowship to tackle the most pressing issues facing society, provide independent expert advice to policymakers and inspire the next generation of innovative thinkers.Amy Pedersen is Personal Chair of Disease Ecology, whose work addresses vital questions about host-parasite interactions, including how to improve host health and develop effective disease control strategies. Her research has played a key role in reshaping research approaches on how parasites and other pathogens impact the fitness and dynamics of their wild hosts. Using a lab-to-wild rodent model, she has developed methodologies to study these interactions as they occur in the complexity of their natural ecological environment.In natural systems, hosts are usually co-infected by multiple parasites, and many parasites can infect several host species.Amy’s research aims to understand how these real-world complexities drive the ecology and evolution of parasites and their hosts. Each of our new Fellows brings a unique background, expertise and insight to the National Academy of Scotland, and we are thrilled to have them join us. The challenges that face Scotland, and the world, are numerous and growing. The RSE’s diverse membership and its expertise enable us to bring multidisciplinary perspectives to a wide range of issues of significance for Scotland and the world, including some of today’s most pressing health issues. Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Annis Richardson – RSE Inaugural Research Leadership cohortDr Annis Richardson is one of thirteen of Scotland’s most promising academics to have been chosen as the inaugural cohort to take part in the RSE’s new Research Leadership Scheme.The new scheme will equip participants with the skills to lead major interdisciplinary research bids that address critical scientific and societal challenges.As part of a two-year pilot, the Scheme will provide two small cohorts with structured support to build confidence, skills, and leadership capacity through a mixture of mentoring, seed-corn funding, training, and peer learning. Annis Richardson, Senior Lecturer in Molecular Crop Science, investigates how the shape of whole plants, or their individual parts, develop and are controlled.The shape of a plant, or even of an individual organ like a leaf, can have a big impact on how well the plant grows and produces seed. Her group’s focus is on grasses, as they are the world’s staple food crops. Wheat, rice, and maize, provide more than 50% of global calories and underpin human health and food security.Understanding how grasses develop and the genetic networks that control this, will not only provide insights into how plants evolve, but also reveal potential ways to improve cereal crop yields.Her lab combines genetics, next generation sequencing, molecular biology, 3D imaging and computational modelling to build an understanding of how grass organs develop over time.They hope to identify key elements underlying different traits, and exploit these to generate grass crops for different purposes and that are able to adapt to a range of environments in the future. I’m very proud to be part of the inaugural cohort for the RSE research leadership cohort. I’m excited to bring my expertise in plant science and science communication to the cohort and build interdisciplinary teams to benefit Scotland’s Green Future. Dr Annis Richardson Senior Lecturer in Molecular Crop Science The strength of Scotland’s research sector depends on nurturing talented people, and empowering them to lead with confidence, creativity, and ambition. This new Scheme is an important investment in that future. By bringing together researchers from diverse disciplines and supporting them to collaborate on some of the most pressing challenges of our time, the RSE hopes to help build the leadership capacity our country needs. I am delighted to see such an exceptional first cohort embark on this journey, and I look forward to following the positive impact they will undoubtedly make. Professor Anne Anderson OBE FRSE RSE Vice President, Research Related LinksProfessor Amy Pederson RSE Fellows 2026 Dr Annis Richardson RSE Inaugural Research Leadership Cohort Publication date 05 May, 2026
