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Research group

Plants and Food Security

Dragonfly on green crops.

We study the response of plants to the environment at the molecular, whole plant and ecological levels. This includes interactions with nematodes, insects and microbes.

Part of Biological sciences

About

Within the group there are 4 main areas of research:

  • Plant molecular biology: we research a wide range of crops from wheat, barley and rice, to crops that are currently underutilised, but have future potential as staple foods.
     
  • Agricultural ecology: we study the interaction of plants and other organisms in the context of agricultural ecosystems.
     
  • Crop pests and pollinators: we focus on the interaction of crops with both beneficial insects such as pollinators, as well as a range of important agricultural pests.
     
  • Human nutrition: we look into the consequences of altered nutrition on human health and development including epigenetic control of gene expression.

Research highlights

Person picking cocoa plant in forest

Securing food for the future

Environment, sustainability and clean growth
Health and wellbeing
Future societies and communities
Our researchers are finding ways to provide food security for the future.

People, projects and publications

People

Dr Becky Morris

Associate Professor

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: r.j.morris@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

ORCID

Professor Charles Keevil

Professor In Environmental Health Care

Email: c.w.keevil@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

ORCID

Dr Daniel Stabler

Lecturer in Plant-Organism Interactions

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: d.stabler@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Dr Herman Wijnen Drs, PhD, FHEA

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Control of Daily Rhythms by Circadian Clocks and the Environment
  • Genetics, Behaviour and Neuroscience of the fruit fly Drosophila
  • Chronophysiology of Invertebrates in Association with Global Environmental Change and Food Security

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: h.wijnen@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

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ORCID
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Twitter

Dr Jan Janouskovec PhD

Lecturer in Ecology

Research interests

  • Protist diversity and ecology
  • Evolution of eukaryotic cells
  • Metabolism in plastids & mitochondria

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: j.janouskovec@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Google Scholar
ORCID

Dr Jenny Baverstock

Principal Enterprise Fellow

Email: j.baverstock@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

ORCID

Professor Karen Lillycrop

Professor of Epigenetics

Research interests

  • Epigenetics
  • Human Disease

Email: k.a.lillycrop@soton.ac.uk

Address: Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road Shirley, SO16 6YD

Google Scholar
ORCID

Miss Kathryn De Abreu

Email: kda1g11@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

ORCID

Professor Lindy Holden-Dye BSc, MSc, PhD, FRSB, FBPhS

PROFESSOR OF NEUROSCIENCES

Research interests

  • Neuropharmacology
  • Invertebrate neuroscience
  • Nematode neurobiology

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: l.m.holden-dye@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

ORCID
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Dr Lorraine Williams

Associate Professor

Accepting applications from PhD students

Email: l.e.williams@soton.ac.uk

Address: B85, East Highfield Campus, University Road, SO17 1BJ

Food security is a very pressing issue; globally, around a billion people are already food insecure.
Professor Guy Baverstock-Poppy
Professor In Biological Sciences
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