Antibiotic resistance and AI: New role for Dr Tania Dottorini
October 6, 2022
Dr Tania Dottorini, Associate Professor in Bioinformatics and a member of the Future Food Beacon, is taking up a new position (alongside her day job) as the Director for the Centre of Smart Food for Health (CSFH), at the University of Nottingham Ningbo Campus. Dr Dottorini, based in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, …
Our technology platforms: AEDNA
August 8, 2022
Over the next few weeks we will be featuring stories about our different technology platforms, their work and research, and the facilities available to researchers. These are also featured in our 2021 Annual Report. Today, we turn our attention to our new Ancient and Environmental DNA laboratory. We are very pleased that our Ancient and …
Understanding the keys of adaptation in plants: An interview with Dr Raziyeh Abdilzadeh
December 15, 2021
Raziyeh Abdilzadeh is a postdoctoral fellow working with Prof Levi Yant on Preadapt: revealing the basis of whole genome duplication-mediated adaption, a Leverhulme funded project. Razi joins the Future Food Beacon from the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad where she completed her PhD in 2020. Tell us about your role I am a postdoc research fellow …
Swift: A ten minute coffee with Prof Levi Yant
November 17, 2021
Levi Yant has recently been promoted to Professor in the School of Life Sciences. He is a Future Food Beacon group leader. Before this he was a Project Leader at the John Innes Centre (Norwich, UK). His independent research career began in 2014 as a Project Leader at Harvard University (USA), where he had previously …
Adaptation in the face of adversity: unlocking the secret of the genome
October 20, 2021
How can we better understand plant responses to stress through their genomes? Prof Levi Yant and Dr Guillermina Mendiondo discuss different ways to look inside the world of plants. Life’s astonishing diversity is entirely the product of evolution. Adaptation of any organism to the environment, and the reflection of this adaptation – the evolution of …
Evolving grass pea from ‘orphan’ crop to staple food
September 8, 2021
This post is written by Drs Peter Emmrich and Levi Yant. Malnutrition from protein deficiency is a widespread problem and concern. Populations in the developing world are at particular risk due to the higher costs of animal proteins when compared to plant proteins. These populations therefore tend to rely on protein-rich plant-based foods like beans, …
Exploring diversity in pearl millet seed – An interview with Brighton Gapare
February 12, 2021
Brighton Gapare is a joint Nottingham-Rothamsted PhD Student 2019–2023. His project is entitled ‘Exploring genetic diversity in grain structure, composition and functionality of pearl millet germplasm’. His supervisors are Dr. Rahul Bhosale (UoN), Prof. Malcom Bennett (UoN) and Prof. Peter Shewry (RRes). He also works with Dr Neil Graham (UoN), Prof. David Cook (UoN), Prof. …
How does rice reproduce when it’s hot? – An interview with Maureen Ng’ang’a
January 29, 2021
Maureen Ng’ang’a is a second-year PhD student on the UoN-Rothamsted Graduate Centre for International Agriculture scheme. Her project is entitled ‘TempR: Developing reproductive resilience to heat stress in rice’. Her supervisors are: Dr. Sigrid Heuer (RRes), Prof. Zoe Wilson (UoN) and Prof. Erik Murchie (UoN). Why did you decide to do a PhD? What were …
Improving Brassica rapa for better nutrition – An interview with Dr Guillermina Mendiondo
December 7, 2020
Dr Guillermina Mendiondo is an Assistant Professor in Translational Crop Science at The University of Nottingham. She works on different plant species as part of her work on crop molecular genetics within the Future Food Beacon. The origins of the project In 2018, Dr Mendiondo travelled to South Africa and visited farmers in KwaZulu-Natal as …
How can the winged bean improve our futures? An interview with Chong Yuet Tian
October 2, 2020
Tian is a Future Food Beacon Malaysia PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Festo Massawe, Dr. Hui Hui Chai and Dr. Ajit Singh. She obtained a BSc (Hons) in Agricultural Science before joining University of Nottingham Malaysia to research genetic improvement of crop plants, especially minor and underutilised crops. She is currently researching winged …
