Plant Physiology webinar
Numeracy, Realism, and Relevance in Plant Science
When: Thursday July 17, 2025 at
Noon UTC | 8 AM EDT | 1 PM UK | 3 PM Israel | 10 PM Brisbane, Australia
There has been a recent uptick in frustration with overclaiming and overselling at the interface between molecular plant science and agriculture. Relatedly, there is a growing disconnect between metabolic engineers and synthetic biologists who think and work at DNA, protein, pathway, and cell levels and the agricultural and economic realities that plant breeders, crop physiologists, and agronomists deal with. And behind both of these things lies a general erosion of public trust in science and scientists’ expertise.
Improving this situation requires scientists to become ‘T-shaped’, i.e. to have not only depth in a specialist area (the T’s vertical stroke), but also breadth of general knowledge (the T’s cross-stroke) to provide context. Education now often fails to deliver the cross-stroke. Neither deep nor broad knowledge alone is enough to understand and manage the ‘wicked problems’ of climate, energy, soils, water, and more that are impacting the world now and will do so increasingly throughout the career spans of next-gen plant scientists. The coming 30 years will not be ‘business as usual’ for plant scientists. We will be tasked with finding workable management solutions for wicked problems, which demands a feeling for the numbers and a grasp of what’s real and what’s wishful thinking.
Accordingly, the July 2025 Focus Issue of Plant Physiology, titled “Numeracy, Realism and Relevance in Plant Science” and edited by Jenn Brophy, Yann-Rong Lin, Jackie Shanks, Alison Smith, Mary Williams, and Andrew Hanson, is designed to be an educational resource to strengthen the T’s cross-stroke for higher impact plant science. To amplify the Focus Issue’s impact, the editors have invited four of the contributing authors to discuss how important it is for the plant science community to ‘run the numbers’ – always and for everything.
SPEAKERS
Andrew Hanson
Andrew Hanson is in the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida. His BSc and PhD are from University of London, UK. After working in the Crop Science Department at Rank Hovis McDougall Ltd, he received postdoctoral training at the Université d’Aix-Marseille and the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) at Michigan State University. He then joined the faculty at the PRL, jointly appointed in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences. He then moved to the Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale of the Université de Montréal, and from there to the University of Florida. His research is on metabolic biochemistry, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology and is guided by the aim of utility to agriculture and the bioeconomy. See https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiae347
Samuel Lovat
Samuel Lovat is a PhD student in the group of Professor Ron Milo at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He completed his combined undergraduate and master’s degree at the University of Oxford in biochemistry, with a focus on bioinformatics and how plant genome editing can be used in agriculture to help mitigate climate change. His current research focuses on quantifying the environmental and economic implications of new methods of food production and their role and limitations in future sustainable development roadmaps. This includes growing plants on shelves indoors under artificial light (vertical farming) and producing foods from microorganisms (like yeast and bacteria). See https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf056
Jonathan Napier
Originally from County Down, Northern Ireland, Johnathan obtained his BSc in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Nottingham, followed by a PhD in plant biochemistry from King’s College, London. He carried out post-doctoral research at the University of Cambridge, then taking up a position at Long Ashton Research Station in Bristol. His research group relocated to Rothamsted Research in 2003 where he is currently Science Director. Johnathan is also an Affiliated Lecturer at the University of Cambridge and Honorary Professor at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers and is the inventor on multiple granted patents relating to the biotechnology of plant oils. He was awarded his DSc from the University of Nottingham in 2006 for outstanding contributions to the field of plant lipid research. He is passionate about the importance of public engagement in gaining social license for new technologies and is a regular contributor to discussions about GM food and agriculture. Johnathan is currently Editor-in-Chief of Plant Biotechnology Journal. See https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf178
Claudia Vickers
Claudia Vickers is a Professor at Queensland University of Technology and Director of BioBuilt Solutions. Her research sits at the intersection of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and isoprenoid biosynthesis, with a focus on rational strain design and pathway optimization in microbial and plant systems. She has made foundational contributions to our understanding of volatile isoprenoid function in plants, carbon flux through the MEP and MVA pathways, and the development of enabling tools for pathway engineering and biosensor design. Claudia previously led CSIRO’s Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform and has played a central role in shaping national and international strategy in engineering biology, including co-chairing the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology and advising the OECD, FAO and FSANZ. She has a particular interest in advancing applied synthetic biology toward sustainable biomanufacturing and addressing climate change.
MODERATOR
Merritt Khaipho-Burch
Merritt Khaipho-Burch is an Artificial Intelligence in Breeding Research Scientist at Corteva Agriscience. Merritt earned a BS in Biology from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, an MS in Biological Sciences from South Dakota State University, and a PhD in Plant Genetics from Cornell University with Ed Buckler. During her Ph.D., Merritt investigated the biological patterns that control pleiotropy and the regulatory impact of transposable elements on gene expression in maize. In addition, Merritt also led a perspective paper with an international, multidisciplinary team that advocated for rigorous, field-based trials when evaluating genetic improvements on crop yield to ensure that discoveries translate into real-world, on farm yield gains. At Corteva, Merritt develops computational and AI driven approaches to advance crop improvement through gene editing.
