Profile

I decided to work with wheat because of the growing world population. There could be around 9 billion people on the planet by 2050, and all these people need to be fed! There are many things we need to do to produce more food, and breeding wheat to produce higher yields can contribute to this.

I am interested in what happens to wheat physiology (the way the plant works) when we change the type of wax covering the surface of the plant. All land plants have a layer of wax (called epicuticular wax) covering their outside surfaces.  These waxes are incredibly important for the survival of the plant. I guess you could think of them as the plant’s skin. Waxes help protect the plant from disease and insects, help reduce water loss, and affect the way the plant uses light.

Changing the type of epicuticular wax that a wheat plant has will change how the plant works and acts in it’s environment. I am trying to understand what type of wax will help the plant work best in particular environments. If we can understand this, we may be able to breed wheat that is able to grow faster and bigger, and is better adapted to it’s environment.

The wheat plants that I work with are planted in the soil in the Autumn, and take until around May to grow into adult plants. Between May and August, whilst the plants are adults, I spend almost every single day, from 6 am until 7 pm, out in the wheat field! I measure lots of different things including the temperature of the plants, amount of light the plants are using and how fast the plants are able to photosynthesise (the chemical process a plant uses to convert sun light into energy). This gives me important information about how well the plants are able to grow. I also collect leaf samples that I take back to the lab to use later on.

In August we harvest the plants and measure yield (how much we have managed to grow). If you live out in the countryside you might have seen the combine harvesters and tractors harvesting the fields? The image below shows my wheat field halfway through a long day of harvesting.

For the rest of the year (September to April) I spend my time in the lab doing experiments with the leaf samples I collected in the field. These experiments allow me to understand a bit about the chemistry of the leaf, including the amount and type of wax on the surface. I also spend time in my office analysing data from experiments that I have done. This is probably the least exciting bit of what I do, but is important. Only by looking at my data can I see what I have done so far and decide what experiments to do next!

I also help to teach undergraduate students at the university. This is one of my favorite parts of my job – the students are fun, lively, and ask great questions that really make me think about science in a different way!