Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Pioneering JHI soft fruit scientist honoured with prestigious award

Dr Rex Brennan made a major contribution to the development of blackcurrant varieties.
Dr Rex Brennan made a major contribution to the development of blackcurrant varieties.

A soft fruit scientist who made a global contribution to the development of blackcurrants has been presented with a major award.

Dr Rex Brennan is well known in Scotland’s soft fruit industry after a career spent at the James Hutton Institute (JHI) and its predecessor,  the Scottish Crop Research Institute, where he specialised in berry fruit genetics.

The Worshipful Company of Fruiters (WCF)  presented Dr Brennan with the Matthew Mack award, a triennial honour which recognises distinguished achievements in education, training and innovation in the fruit industry.

Banquet

WCF awards council chair, Chris Newenham told a virtual banquet honouring  Dr Brennan that the scientist had devoted a lifetime’s work to enhancing and advancing the genetics of berry fruits throughout the country.

Dr Brennan said  he had worked  at the institutes at Invergowrie for more than 30 years.

“I was fortunate during that time to work with many talented colleagues at the institute and elsewhere, and I must acknowledge their considerable contributions to the work,” he said.

“In addition, the support of a wide range of commercial partners was crucial in getting the results of our work, including new varieties, out to the fruit industry.”

Rex Brennan made a major contribution to the development of blackcurrants.

JHI chief executive Professor Colin Campbell said: “We are very pleased to hear Rex has received this richly-deserved honour. His work is outstanding and underpins our reputation for soft fruit breeding. Rex has also made enormous contributions to mentoring the next generation of Hutton soft fruit breeders and plant scientists.”