I am a plant ecologist whose research focuses on increasing our understanding plant traits and interactions with soils, in order to improve agroecosystems. In my first postdoctoral position I studied crop domestication, from an ecological, trait-based perspective, using a series of large-scale greenhouse experiments, growing crops and their wild relatives. Later, as a Marie Curie Fellow at CREAF in Spain, I gained experience in plant-soil interactions, particularly root exudation and links with soil microbial communities. 

Another theme of my research is how plants are affected by environmental change, and I have worked on this in a diverse range of habitats, from Arctic to Mediterranean, studying how plant traits differ between species and individuals, in response to changes in climate. Throughout my career I have developed the ability to work well in interdisciplinary environments, and I now plan to link together my previous work to make a significant contribution to food security research. In particular, I am interested in how root traits may be exploited to increase tolerance of agricultural systems to increased drought and other predicted changes. 

I have consistently achieved excellent quality publications in international journals of the first quartile of impact factor (100% of my first-author papers). Specific examples include a first author paper in Trends in Plant Sciences (impact factor of 14.01) entitled "A Return To The Wild - Root Exudates and Food Security". Other first author papers include in New Phytologist (IF of 7.21), and Journal of Ecology (IF of 5.69). Since finishing my PhD in November 2011, I have published 21 SCI articles (and 4 non-SCI articles), with 11 as first author, including 6 first author papers in the last 3 years. 

I have previously won research funding; most notably a Marie Curie fellowship, worth 166.336 €, in 2013, but also for travel and fieldwork costs during my PhD, demonstrating my independence and capacity to win competitive calls. This fellowship also gave me a good opportunity to work in a different country, making the move from the UK to Spain. Also, throughout my PhD I had long research stays in Sweden at the Abisko Scientific Research Station, where I undertook my field work investigating climate change in the Arctic. More recently I visited the PLECO (Plants and Ecosystems) research group at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) for a short research stay to collaborate with Dr Erik Verbruggen, with whom I already have one research article. Working in different countries has given me a more collaborative outlook and has been very beneficial in exposing me to different ways of working, and greatly widening my academic network.  

I have extensive experience communicating my research at conferences, including the British Ecological Society annual meetings (in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018) and the International Association for Ecology (INTECOL) annual meeting (2013) and invited seminars including at the University of Cambridge (UK) and the University Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid (Spain). I have also engaged in science divulgation to the general public via blog posts and interviews at CREAF, and in radio interviews in the UK. Additionally, I have supervised a number Bachelor’s and Master’s students and technical staff throughout my post-doctoral career, and I am currently co-supervising a PhD student at CREAF.