Biography
I completed my BSc (Hons) in Botany, followed by a MSc in Plant Physiology at the National University of Singapore. My PhD research, supervised by Profs. Alistair Hetherington and Martin McAinsh at Lancaster University in the UK, was on calcium signalling in stomatal guard cells, where we were the first to discover sphingosine-1-phosphate in plants, and that it is calcium mobilising second messenger in the ABA signalling pathway in stomatal guard cells. This was followed by a Postdoctoral Fellowship with Prof. Sally Assman on the topic of RNA processing in ABA signalling in stomatal guard cells at Pennsylvania State University, USA. I then answered Ireland’s call and started a lectureship at University College Dublin (Ireland’s largest public university) where I run my own independent research group. My research interests are pretty broad, ranging from basic to applied, lab-based clean work involving plant cell cultures to getting mucky on farms. My research revolves around (i) plant and crop abiotic stress responses, (ii) sustainable agriculture with a particular focus on nitrogen use efficiency, and (iii) plant secondary metabolism and metabolic engineering. In addition to research, I am also actively involved in teaching (both undergraduates and postgraduates) and university administration (where I was Associate Dean of Science, and also Head of Plant Biology, and Cell and Molecular Biology). I joined the New Phytologist family first as an Editorial Advisor, before becoming an Associate Editor, and more recently, an Editor. In 2019, I hosted the New Phytologist Next Generation Scientists Symposium in Dublin, and I have been a mentor for subsequent editions of the Next Generation Symposium.
