Team
Rafal M Gutaker
[Senior Research Leader]
October 2020 -
I have always been fascinated by plant diversity, evolution and ecology, focusing on plants utilized by humans, and their wild relatives. My main concern both scientifically and personally is our agricultural system, which is not diverse, sustainable or healthy, and has high ecological impact. I use retrospective tools to learn about past agricultures, and search for better designs. I love to be part of institution that inspires my mission to explore and protect plant life on Earth.
Scholar: Rafal M. Gutaker
Twitter: @rgutaker
RBG Kew: kew.org
Nataly O. Allasi Canales
[Villum Fellow]
March 2023 -
Bitter potatoes! My postdoc project aims to clarify the genetic origin, explore biochemical diversity, and estimate ecological models of bitter potatoes to diversify food systems that are under threat due to the climate and biodiversity crisis in order to ensure food for the most vulnerable populations.
Twitter: @allasicanales
Website: https://www.DNAtaly.com/
Amy C. Jackson
[Research Associate]
May 2023 -
I am an evolutionary biologist with a particular interest in utilising genomic techniques to understand adaptation and diversification in plants. My postdoc is centred around understanding the cereal crop fonio, particularly the West African indigenous crop white fonio. Fonio displays a number of unfavourable characteristics that results in low yields. Key aims of this project are to identify genes that will enable the acceleration of domestication in fonio, as well as genes that underlie climate tolerance.
Twitter: @amycjack
Hong Phuong Le
[Research Assistant]
June 2023 -
My background is molecular biology with specific interests in genome editing, and gene expression and function in microalgae and plants. Currently, I am working on a project investigating the effects of modern agricultural practices on the rice-associated microbiome, rice genetic diversity, and rice grains’ nutritional qualities of the historical (pre-Green Revolution) and contemporary rice samples in The Philippines and Vietnam.
Yoon Kyung Lee
[Research Associate]
January 2024 -
I have experience in rice molecular breeding and genomics, specifically in rice grain quality. Currently, I am involved in an interesting project that focuses on population genomics and the nutritional quality of rice using historical herbarium samples. The project aims to investigate the consequences of previous yield-focused rice breeding practices.
PhD Students
Meng-Ting Hsieh
[Jointly with Earlham Institute, Anthony Hall and Jose de Vega]
MSc Students
Alumni
Staff
Robin Becina Guevarra
[Research Associate]
March 2023 - January 2024
MSc Students
Callum Swift, 2023
Tillandsia latifolia, an extremophile that can tell the story of lomas, the Peruvian fog oases.
Ella Serpell, 2022
Crop origin niches: environmental perspectives on the “when, where, and why” of domestication in five grain taxa.