Receiving the Baguley Prize from the President of the Prehistoric Socety at the Royal Academy, London.
Dr. Robert S Shiel
Agriculture Department.
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU, UK
After graduating with first class honours in Soil Science at Newcastle University, I was an advisor at the North of Scotland College of Agriculture (SAC) and completed my PhD at Aberdeen University before returning to Newcastle. Much of my teaching now concerns soil management, the topic of my PhD and my subsequent research. Having been closely involved with analysis of experimental results while in Aberdeen I completed a statistics degree at the Open University and also lecture in this area. For many years I have been interested in sustainable use of land and have for 20 years managed the Palace Leas meadow hay plots, the world's oldest grazed grassland experiment, and also have become involved in research in the developing world and past land use. I was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1978. Although I work on several large archaeological projects I also take part in Precision Farming research, as this permits more efficient use of land and resources. Farmers over most of history have had no access to agrochemicals, so it is natural that I have a strong interest in organic farming. I am degree option tutor for the Rural Resource Management degree and am active in research on hay meadow diversity.

Research
Palace Leas
Archaeology
Precision farming
Hay meadows
Developing world
Teaching AGR108
AGR110
AGR202
AGR212
AGR319
AGR330
AES210
Consultancy