View source for Rothamsted Research

{{Short description|UK agricultural research institution}}
[[File:Rothamsted Research.jpg|thumb|300px|Panorama of Rothamsted Research]]
'''Rothamsted Research''', previously known as the '''Rothamsted Experimental Station''' and then the '''Institute of Arable Crops Research''', is one of the oldest [[agricultural experiment station|agricultural research institutions]] in the world, having been founded in 1843. It is located at [[Harpenden]] in the English county of [[Hertfordshire]] and is a [[Charitable organization|registered charity]] under English law.<ref>{{EW charity|802038|ROTHAMSTED RESEARCH LIMITED}}</ref>

Two of the station's best known and longest-running experiments are the Broadbalk Experiment, planted annually with winter wheat since 1843, and the [[Park Grass Experiment]], a biological study that started in 1856 and has been continuously monitored ever since.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Silvertown | first1 = J. | last2 = Poulton | first2 = P. | last3 = Johnston | first3 = E. | last4 = Edwards | first4 = G. | last5 = Heard | first5 = M. | last6 = Biss | first6 = P. M. | doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2006.01145.x | title = The Park Grass Experiment 1856-2006: Its contribution to ecology | journal = Journal of Ecology | volume = 94 | issue = 4 | pages = 801 | year = 2006 | bibcode = 2006JEcol..94..801S | citeseerx = 10.1.1.589.7794 | s2cid = 23198088 }}</ref>

{{Coord|51|48|33|N|0|21|19|W|display=title}}

==History==
[[Image:John_Bennet_Lawes3.jpg|thumb|upright|John Bennet Lawes]]
[[Image:Rothamsted - Centenary building.jpg|thumb|The Centenary Building at Rothamsted Research, finished in 2003]]
The Rothamsted Experimental Station was founded in 1843 by [[John Bennet Lawes]], a noted [[Victorian era]] entrepreneur and scientist who had founded one of the first artificial fertilizer manufacturing factories in 1842, on his 16th-century estate, [[Rothamsted Manor]], to investigate the impact of inorganic and organic fertilizers on crop yield.

[[Image:Makers of British botany, Plate 19 (Joseph Henry Gilbert).png|thumb|right|upright|Joseph Henry Gilbert]]
Lawes had Henry King conduct studies on the application of bone dust to turnip fields between 1836 and 1838. In 1840 he hired Dobson,{{who?|date=November 2021}} a chemist. He had experiments conducted with bone ash treated with sulphuric acid and various other mixtures. It is thought that the experiments were at least to some extent influenced by [[Justus von Liebig]] who had attended a meeting of the British Association at Liverpool in 1837. Lawes took out patents on manure mixtures and began a factory to manufacture them in 1843, the same year that [[Joseph Henry Gilbert]] replaced Dobson who had moved to Australia. Gilbert had trained under Liebig and with Lawes's support, he launched the first of a series of long-term field experiments, some of which still continue.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Russeli|first=E. John|date=1942|title=Rothamsted and Its Experiment Station|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3739533|journal=Agricultural History|volume=16|issue=4|pages=161–183|jstor=3739533|issn=0002-1482}}</ref> Over 57 years, Lawes and Gilbert established the foundations of modern scientific agriculture and the principles of crop nutrition.

[[File:Rothamsted_plaque.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A plaque commemorating 50 years of research, in front of the Russell Building]]
In 1902 [[Alfred Daniel Hall|Daniel Hall]] moved from [[Wye College]] to become director, taking a lower salary to join an establishment lacking money, staff, and direction. Hall decided that Rothamsted needed to specialise and was eventually successful in obtaining state support for agricultural research. In 1912 [[E. John Russell]], who had come from Wye in 1907, took over as director until 1943, overseeing a major expansion in the 1920s, when Sir [[William Gammie Ogg]] took over until 1958 and increasing the number of staff from 140 to 471 and creating new [[biochemistry]], [[nematode|nematology]], and [[pedology (soil study)|pedology]] departments. The site in Harpenden grew to cover {{convert|330|hectare|acres}}.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2021-02-21|title=The History of Rothamsted Research|url=https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/history-and-heritage|website=Rothamsted Research}}</ref> 

===Statistical science===

Many distinguished scientists have been associated with Rothamsted. In 1919 Russell hired [[Ronald Fisher]] to investigate the possibility of analysing the vast amount of data accumulated from the "Classical Field Experiments." Fisher analysed the data and stayed to create the theory of experimental design, making Rothamsted a major centre for research in [[statistics]] and [[genetics]]. Among his appointments and successors in the Statistics department were [[Joseph Oscar Irwin|Oscar Irwin]], [[John Wishart (statistician)|John Wishart]], [[Frank Yates]], [[William Gemmell Cochran|William Cochran]], [[Winifred Mackenzie]] and [[John Nelder]]. Indeed, many{{who|date=November 2019}} consider Rothamsted to be the most important birthplace of modern statistical theory and practice.


Partly through these methods, researchers at Rothamsted have made significant contributions to agricultural science, including the discovery and development of systemic herbicides and [[pyrethroid]] insecticides, as well as pioneering contributions to the fields of [[virology]], [[nematology]], [[soil science]] and [[pesticide resistance]]. During [[World War II]], aiming to increase crop yields for a nation at war, a team under the leadership of [[Judah Hirsch Quastel]] developed [[2,4-D]], still the most widely used weed killer in the world.

===Recent history===

In 1987, Rothamsted, the [[Long Ashton Research Station]], and [[Broom's Barn Experimental Station]] merged to form the Institute of Arable Crops Research (IACR). The Long Ashton Research Station was closed in 2002, with some of its staff moved to Rothamsted, whilst Broom's Barn is operated as an experimental farm for Rothamsted.

Rothamsted is now operated by a grouping of private organizations under the name of Rothamsted Research and is mainly funded by various branches of the UK government through the [[Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council]]. Rothamsted Research supports around 300 scientists (including 50 visiting scientists), 100 administrative staff and 40 PhD students.<ref name="AboutUs">{{cite web | url=http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Content.php?Section=AboutUs | title=About Us | publisher=Rothamsted Research | access-date=4 April 2012 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306182327/http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Content.php?Section=AboutUs | archive-date=6 March 2012 }}</ref>

As well as the Rothamsted site Rothamsted Research operates:<ref name="AboutUs"/>
* Broom's Barn, a {{convert|120|ha|adj=on}} experimental farm near [[Bury St Edmunds]], Suffolk, which is the UK's national centre for [[sugar beet]] research.
* [[North Wyke]], {{convert|250|ha}} of grassland near [[Okehampton]], Devon. It provides a "Farm Platform" allowing research teams to conduct experiments on three {{convert|25|ha|acre|adj=on|abbr=off}} mini-farms. It was formerly part of the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research.

Its research programme has five main areas:
* Delivering Sustainable Wheat: a co-ordinated and collaborative initiative led by the [[John Innes Centre]] to address critical challenges in wheat health, yield, and production in order to safeguard the future of this vital crop.
* Green Engineering: advancing and exploiting understanding of genetic intervention and metabolic regulation to deliver high value plant products and germplasm for health, nutrition, and a more sustainable future.
* Resilient Farming Futures: combining primary and secondary data, in vivo and in silico experiments, and the development of data science and decision-making tools, to forearm the farming sector and additional stakeholders.
* Growing Health: Towards healthier agro-ecosystems.
* AgZero+: supporting the UK’s transition towards home-grown food production that is sustainable, carbon-neutral and has a positive effect on nature (led by the [[UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology]]).

It also operates:
* The Long Term Experiments and e-RA:The oldest continuing agricultural field experiments in the world. Seven of these Long-term Experiments (LTEs) continue today and provide an invaluable resource for scientists.The online e-RA brings the data from the classical and other long-term experiments into an accessible and useable database.
* The Insect Survey: two national networks for monitoring insect populations in the UK.<ref>Harrington, Richard and Woiwod, Ian (February 2007) [http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/insect-survey/documents/Outlooks%20on%20Pest%20Management.pdf Foresight from hindsight: The Rothamsted Insect Survey] Outlooks on Pest Management, Volume 18, Number 1, Retrieved 22 May 2012</ref>
* [[PHI-base]]: a database of multiple pathogen-host interactions.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Winnenburg | first1 = R. 
| last2 = Urban | first2 = M. 
| last3 = Beacham | first3 = A. 
| last4 = Baldwin | first4 = T. K. 
| last5 = Holland | first5 = S. 
| last6 = Lindeberg | first6 = M. 
| last7 = Hansen | first7 = H. 
| last8 = Rawlings | first8 = C. 
| last9 = Hammond-Kosack | first9 = K. E. 
| doi = 10.1093/nar/gkm858 
| last10 = Köhler | first10 = J. 
| title = PHI-base update: Additions to the pathogen-host interaction database 
| journal = Nucleic Acids Research 
| volume = 36 
| issue = Database issue 
| pages = D572–D576 
| year = 2007 
| pmid = 17942425 
| pmc =2238852 
}}</ref>

== GM protest ==
In 2012 Rothamsted started testing [[genetically modified wheat]] which had been modified to produce an aphid alarm pheromone produced by aphids when under attack to help deter pests.<ref>{{cite news| title=The GM scientists' risky strategy that won public support | author=Ian Sample | newspaper=The Guardian | date=27 May 2012
| url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/27/gm-food-pr-strategy}}</ref> This trial attracted criticism from anti-GM groups and "about 200" people attempted to occupy the site on 27 May 2012.<ref>{{cite news | title=GM trial survives - but 'war' goes on | author=David Shukman | work=BBC News | date=27 May 2012 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18229199 }}</ref> They were prevented by a large police presence and the protest ended peacefully.<ref>{{cite news | title=Anti-GM protesters kept from tearing up wheat crop by police | author=Shiv Malik | newspaper=The Guardian | date=27 May 2012 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/may/27/anti-gm-protesters-police-rothamsted }}</ref> However one protester did trespass and damage the crop. The protester was later arrested, tried and fined £4,000.<ref name=fordham>(19 July 2014) [http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/update/2012-08-24/devon-man-fined-4-000-for-gm-centre-damage/ GM Crop Damage Fine] ITV News, Retrieved 9 July 20915</ref>

A video appeal by scientists at Rothamsted led to over 6,000 people signing a "Don't destroy research" petition organised by [[Sense about Science]].<ref name="Don't destroy research">{{cite web|title=Don't Destroy Research Campaign|url=http://www.senseaboutscience.org/petition.php|publisher=Sense about Science|access-date=29 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120814030415/http://www.senseaboutscience.org/petition.php|archive-date=14 August 2012|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Sense about Science also organised a question and answer session with scientists.<ref name="SAS Q&A">{{cite web|title=Sense about Science Q&A|url=http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/plant-science-qa.html|publisher=Sense about Science|access-date=29 August 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018231124/http://www.senseaboutscience.org/pages/plant-science-qa.html|archive-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> The author [[Mark Lynas]] commented that Rothamsted's successful campaign might be a turning point for GMOs.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Lynas | first1 = M. | doi = 10.1186/2048-7010-1-17 | title = Rothamsted's aphid-resistant wheat - a turning point for GMOs? | journal = Agriculture & Food Security | volume = 1 | article-number = 17 | year = 2012 | issue = 1 | bibcode = 2012AgFS....1...17L | doi-access = free }}</ref>

However, the results published in 2015 showed that the trial wheat variety was no better than standard wheat varieties in deterring pests.<ref>{{cite news |last= Case|first= Philip|date= 27 June 2015|title= 9 questions about the GM wheat trial answered|url= http://www.fwi.co.uk/arable/nine-questions-about-the-gm-wheat-trial-answered.htm|newspaper= Farmers Weekly|location= Surrey, UK | access-date= 9 July 2015 }}</ref>

==People associated with Rothamsted==

===Directors===
Source:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Content/Library/ArchiveDocuments/ArchivesCatalogue.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2016-11-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105141625/http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/Content/Library/ArchiveDocuments/ArchivesCatalogue.pdf |archive-date=2012-11-05 }}</ref>
* [[John Bennet Lawes]] (1843-1900)
* [[Alfred Daniel Hall]]<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Russell | first1 = E. J. | author-link = E. John Russell| title = Alfred Daniel Hall. 1864-1942 | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1942.0018 | journal = [[Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 4 | issue = 11 | pages = 228–250| year = 1942 | title-link = Alfred Daniel Hall | s2cid = 161964820 }}</ref> (1902-1912)
* [[E. John Russell]]<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Thornton | first1 = H. G. | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1966.0022 | title = Edward John Russell. 1872-1965 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 12 | pages = 456–477| year = 1966 | title-link = E. John Russell | doi-access = free }}</ref> (1912-1943)
* [[William Gammie Ogg]] (1943-1958)
* Frederick Charles Bawden (1958-1972)
* Leslie Fowden (1973-1988)
* Kenneth Treharne (1988-1989)
* Trevor Lewis (1989-1993)
* Benjamin J. Miflin (1994-1998)
* Ian R. Crute (1999-2009)
*[[Maurice Moloney]] (2010-2013)
* Achim Dobermann (2014-2019)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/professor-achim-dobermann-appointed-new-director-rothamsted-research|title = News}}</ref>
*Angela Karp (2020-2025)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Angela Karp announced as new Director and CEO of Rothamsted Research|url=https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/angela-karp-announced-new-director-and-ceo-rothamsted-research|access-date=2020-10-29|website=Rothamsted Research}}</ref>
*Patrick Bailey (2025-)

===Entomologists===

*[[Horace Francis Barnes]]
*[[Colin Butler (entomologist)|Colin Butler]]
*[[Augustus Daniel Imms]]
*[[Carrington Bonsor Williams]]
*[[Kenneth Mellanby]]
*[[Linda M. Field|Linda M Field]]

===Environmental meteorologists===
*[[John Monteith]]
*[[Howard Penman]]

===Botanists===
*[[Winifred Brenchley]]
*[[Mary Dilys Glynne]] (plant pathologist)
*[[F. M. L. Sheffield|Frances Sheffield]]
*[[Katherine Warington]]

===Chemists and biochemists===
*[[George W. Cooke]]
*Edward Mortimer Crowther
*[[Michael_Elliott_(chemist)|Michael Elliott]]
* [[Joseph Henry Gilbert]]
* [[Juda Hirsch Quastel]]
*[[Norman Pirie]]
* [[John A. Pickett]]
*[[Robert Warington (agricultural chemist, born 1838)|Robert Warington]]
Some of the chemists associated with Rothamsted can be found by searching Rothamsted on the Biographical Database of the British Chemical Community, 1880-1970.<ref name="BCC data">{{cite web|title=Biographical Database of the British Chemical Community, 1880-1970|url=http://www.open.ac.uk/ou5/Arts/chemists/search.htm|publisher=The Open University|access-date=29 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040658/http://www.open.ac.uk/ou5/Arts/chemists/search.htm|archive-date=2012-02-04|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Statisticians===

*[[Frank Anscombe]]
*[[William Gemmell Cochran|William Cochran]]
*[[Ronald Fisher]], [[statistician]], [[evolutionary biologist]], [[eugenics|eugenicist]] and [[geneticist]].
*[[Michael_Healy_(statistician)|Michael Healy]]
*[[Joseph Oscar Irwin|Oscar Irwin]]
*[[John Nelder]]
*[[John Wishart (statistician)|John Wishart]]
*[[Robert Wedderburn (statistician)|Robert Wedderburn]]
*[[Mike Westmacott]]
*[[Frank Yates]]

===Geologists and soil scientists===
* [[John Catt]]
*Jackie Stroud <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/decline-of-natures-ploughs-the-earthworm-ntvd6j3gf|title=Decline of 'nature's ploughs', the earthworm|last=Simons|first=Paul|date=2019-05-18|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=2019-08-02|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/modern-farming-is-wiping-out-worms-8mpv3l8g7|title=Modern farming is wiping out worms|last=Malvern|first=Jack|date=2019-02-23|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=2019-08-02|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/26/specieswatch-farmers-britain-disappearing-earthworms|title=Specieswatch: farmers fight to save Britain's disappearing earthworms|last=Brown|first=Paul|date=2019-02-26|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-08-02|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/worm-survey-songbird-decline-reasons-cause-60minworms-song-thrush-farming-earthworms-magpies-rspb-a8794796.html|title=Dearth of worms blamed for dramatic decline in UK songbird population|date=2019-02-24|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-08-02}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/shortcuts/2019/may/20/its-not-just-about-the-bees-earthworms-need-love-too|title=It's not just about the bees – earthworms need love, too|last=Howard|first=Jules|date=2019-05-20|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-08-02|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Librarians===

* Donald H. Boalch (1950-1962)

==See also==
* [[Agricultural experiment station]]
* [[Long-term experiment]]
*[[Genstat]], a [[statistical package]] originally developed at Rothamsted Research, which is reflected in its capacity to handle complex [[block design]]s of the type likely to occur in agricultural multi-treatment experiments.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*''A History of Agricultural Science in Great Britain 1620-1954,'' by E. J. Russell (1966) London, George Allen & Unwin.  Sir John Russell was a director of Rothamsted and his book emphasises the role of Rothamsted in the development of agricultural science in Britain.

==External links==
{{Wikisource|Scientific Farming at Rothamsted}}
{{commons category|Rothamsted Research}}
* [https://www.rothamsted.ac.uk Rothamsted Research]
* [http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/about-us/lawes-agricultural-trust Lawes Agricultural Trust]
* [http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/about-us/history-rothamsted-research Rothamsted History]
* [https://archive.today/20131015151943/http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/venue-hire/rothamsted-manor Rothamsted Manor]
* [http://www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk/eradoc/collections.php The electronic Rothamsted Documents Archive: digital collection of annual reports, guides, maps and documents relating to the various long-term experiments at Rothamsted]
* [https://repository.rothamsted.ac.uk Rothamsted Repository - research publications of the Institute back to 1843]

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