Dr Lorna McAusland and Dr Poonam Mehra honoured for their work helping growers and farmers
Two plant scientists from the University of Nottingham have been recognised for their outstanding research with the Society for Experimental Biology’s (SEB) Presidents Award.
Plant physiologist Dr Lorna McAusland and Dr Poonam Mehra, principal research fellow from the School of Biosciences, have received awards for demonstrating scientific excellence and impact in their research areas.
McAusland specialises in investigating the dynamic responses of photosynthesis and water regulation to heat stress in wheat. Her current research in Nottingham is developing techniques to uncover crucial characteristics which enable crops to survive high temperatures. In particular, the role non-foliar structures play in contributing to heat tolerance.
The university pointed out that while the majority of our understanding about carbon capture comes from the leaves, non-foliar structures – such as the stems, fruits and flowers – offer an exciting, unexplored source of variation for how plants capture carbon in the face of rising global temperatures.
The diversity of shapes and responses to heat will provide vital information on how to protect crops from climate change.
Mehra’s research explores how plant roots sense and adapt to uneven soil moisture at single-cell resolution. Using advanced imaging technologies, Mehra investigates how roots detect water stress and reprogramme cellular processes in dynamic soil environments.
Supported by a BBSRC Discovery Fellowship and a European Research Council Starting Grant, her work is uncovering non-genomic mechanisms that underpin root water sensing and plant resilience.
The President’s Medal is awarded annually to scientists of outstanding merit and acknowledges and encourages the contributions of the next generation of experimental biologist researchers, encompassing researchers in the early to mid-stages of their careers, irrespective of age.
They will be presented with their awards at the SEB annual conference in July in Florence, where they will also present their research.
