The Moredun Foundation awarded three honorary fellowships to Nigel Miller, Professor Elspeth Milne, and Bridget Taylor at its AGM on Thursday, 5th September, in recognition of their outstanding contributions.
Nigel Miller
Nigel Miller graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies (R(D)SVS). After qualifying as a vet, he worked in mixed, mainly farm practice in the Northern Highlands. He later returned to the family upland farm in the Scottish Borders when his father retired.
At this time Nigel became involved with the local National Farmers Union (NFU) pioneering work on cattle EID with Borders TAG and leading environmental management efforts with the Borders Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group.
During the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak, Nigel served as a Temporary Veterinary Inspector for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at the Dumfries Disease Control Centre. Nigel actively helped the sector recover by increasing his involvement with NFU Scotland. Nigel contributed to the recovery and review processes, developing future contingency plans, and representing the Lothian and Borders region at the national level. Over the years, he held several key NFUS roles: Livestock Committee Chair, Vice President, and President, overseeing the last Common Agricultural Policy reform and Scotland’s Independence Referendum. After leaving NFU Scotland, Nigel joined the MRI Board.
Over the last decade, he has taken on additional roles across various organisations, including the SRUC and SAC Commercial Boards, Livestock Health Scotland, the 1.5 Climate Change Inquiry, and the Four Nations group on Ruminant Health and Welfare.
Professor Elspeth Milne
Professor Elspeth Milne graduated from the R(D)SVS in 1979 and completed her PhD in the clinical biochemistry of sheep in 1983. She worked as a clinician in ruminant and equine medicine at the R(D)SVS from 1986 to 1996 and became Head of the Large Animal Medicine Hospital section.
Elspeth developed a strong interest in equine grass sickness (EGS), particularly in the pathology and management of chronic cases. She created a management regime that significantly improved recovery rates. She has supported the Equine Grass Sickness Fund (EGSF) since its early days and remains actively involved. In 1996, Elspeth joined SRUC Veterinary Services in Dumfries and took on the role of Centre Manager.
She returned to Edinburgh in 2002 and led the Veterinary Pathology department from 2004 to 2019, before retiring in 2022. In 1997, she earned a Fellowship from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons for her thesis on managing chronic EGS. In 2002, she became a Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Clinical Pathology, in 2007, she received a Personal Chair in Veterinary Clinical Pathology, and in 2011, she was granted a Fellowship from the Royal College of Pathologists. Elspeth actively taught undergraduate and postgraduate students on EGS and clinical pathology, both nationally and internationally.
Throughout her career, she worked on numerous collaborative research projects with MRI staff on sheep, cattle, horses, and red squirrels. She has supervised many MRI PhD students and examined MRI PhD theses. Her published work includes over 140 refereed articles, with 44 focusing on equine grass sickness.
Bridget Taylor
Bridget Taylor graduated from the R(D)SVS in 1984. After five years of travelling, which included a postgraduate veterinary team expedition to Botswana for six months and a role as a demonstrator in large animal medicine at Easter Bush, she settled in Macclesfield, Cheshire, where she worked at a large mixed veterinary practice for 32 years. She became a partner in the practice in 2001, during the FMD outbreak.
Bridget’s interests in farm animal practice include delivering practical training and knowledge transfer to farmers, health planning on farms, and promoting collaboration within and between practice teams to ensure that farm veterinary work remains sustainable.
She has served as a trustee for the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation, represented the North West of England for the British Veterinary Association, and sat on the boards of the British Cattle Veterinary Association and XLVet UK. Since 2021, she has worked part-time as a practice standards assessor for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and completed a master’s degree in international animal health.