Four St Andrews Academics Selected as Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Four University of St Andrews academics have been selected to be new Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE). The group is part of a total of 80 new Fellows announced 22 March.
Established in 1783, the RSE is Scotland’s national academy. Its Fellowship Committee had its first meeting in 1991 and annually selects a group of experts from the fields ofsciences, arts, business, professions and the third and public sectors. The current group of around 1700 Fellows exist to provide expertise and guidance to the RSE, which provides advice to policy makers, supports entrepreneurship, encourages research developments and learning, and organizes events designed to spark public interest on a variety of important subjects.
On the introduction of new Fellows into the RSE, President of the RSE, Professor Sir John Ball, said, “It is a privilege to be able to welcome our new Fellows, and we are inspired by the breadth of talent and experience in our Fellowship. Every single individual elected this year has shown exceptional levels of expertise and insight in their chosen field, and their input helps RSE effect real andlasting change in Scotland’s society.
“We look forward to working with our diverse Fellowship, who provide a crucial link between the world of academic research and practice with government, business and civil society.”
The four University academics to be named Fellows are Professor Franz Berto, Professor Aileen Fyfe, Professor Matthew Holden and Professor Christian Rutz.
Professor Franz Berto is a philosopher and the Chair of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of St Andrews. His research focuses on logic, methodology, and ontology. Specifically he has written on non-classical logic, the logic of knowledge, and suppositional thinking. Professor Berto is also the Editor-In-Chief at The Philosophical Quarterly.
Professor Christian Rutz is a biologist with diverse and far-reaching interests. His work focuses on behavioral and evolutionary ecology, advanced animal tracking technologies, conservation science and policy making, and research practice. Most noted for his studies on crows and their use of tools, Professor Rutz also focuses on improving the reproducibility of science and has made significant contributions to bio-logging science. His resume includes Founding President of the International Bio-Logging Society, Chair of the Covid-19 Bio-LoggingInitiative and he is Rhodes Scholar, BBSRC David Phillips Fellow, Radcliffe Fellow, and National Geographic Explorer.
Professor Aileen Fyfe is a historian in the construction and communication of knowledge, studying science, technology and publishing. She was recently awarded a Major Research Fellowship by the Leverhulme Trust for her research on the Victorian information revolution. Professor Fyfe said, “The Victorians also thought that they were living through a time of change: statistics were being gathered, information assembled, and new techniques and technologies were being developed to process and publish it all.
“But it was a paper-based revolution. That’s what I will be exploring: how information was gathered, processed and made public in the days of paper technologies.”
Additionally, Professor Fyfe is a fierce advocate for women in academia, as a member of the first cohort of the RSE Young Academy of Scotland, and one of its first co-chairs. She also co-edited Academic Women Now! (RSE/YAS, 2016) and Academic Women Here! (St Andrews, 2018).
Professor Matthew Holden is a genomic epidemiologist who, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, has been seconded into Public Health Scotland as their Genomics Strategic Lead. There, Professor Holden helped build a SARS-CoV-2 sequencing service in the NHS, with the genome data generated from the project being integrated into thepublic health response. Professor Holden’s work focuses on whole ge- nome sequencing. This can be used to trace the evolution of pathogens, and identify and trace outbreaks of infectious diseases when they occur.
The introduction of four new Fellows from the University of St Andrews into the RSE is a notable accomplishment both for the University, and for the illustrious academics who have joined the RSE’s ranks.
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