Biography
Rodica Pena is a plant ecophysiologist who combines molecular techniques, stable isotopes, and data modelling to investigate how plant-soil-fungal interactions, with a focus on mycorrhizal symbiosis, shape tree nutrition and forest ecosystem functioning. She is a senior researcher at the University of Reading (UK) and Transilvania University of Brașov (Romania). She graduated in Biology from the University of Bucharest (Romania) and obtained her PhD at the University of Göttingen (Germany), where she also worked as a postdoctoral researcher. During this period, her research focused on the functional diversity of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities and their role in plant performance and nitrogen nutrition under changing environmental conditions. As an independent researcher, she now explores how mycorrhizas utilise plant-derived resources and how interactions between saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungal guilds influence nutrient cycling. Her research goal is to integrate mycorrhizal feedbacks into models predicting climate change impacts on forest ecosystems. |
