Blog 1 - Meet the team!

Joseph Moughan - joseph.moughan@rothamsted.ac.uk

I’m a final year PhD student at Rothamsted Research and the University of Exeter, funded by Syngenta. I research a disease of wheat crops called take-all. I’m trying to work out if we can prevent this disease from infecting plants by combining crop genetics with fungicidal chemistry. I plan to dedicate my career as a scientist to improving the future prospects of world food security, one of the biggest problems currently facing humanity. The Nobel Week Dialogue conference on the future of food will be a one off opportunity to quiz Nobel Laureates on global food production and people’s diet. Hopefully, this event can help to ignite a public debate on how we’re all going to ensure that there will be enough food to feed the next generation. 

Joao Pennacchi - j.pennacchi@lancaster.ac.uk

I am an Agronomist from Brazil, doing a PhD at Rothamsted Research and Lancaster University, funded by the BBSRC. My main research interest is to understand how crop yields are affected by the efficiency of plants to fixate carbon from atmosphere, through photosynthesis. This is a crucial point to improve plant productivity and reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, cooperating to food security and sustainable agriculture practices. Attending the Nobel Week Dialogue will allow me to understand the gaps in the food production chain and how my research could contribute to address the challenge of feeding the world, in a scenario of increasing population and a changing climate.

Megan Rafter - megan.rafter@rothamsted.ac.uk

I am a second year food security PhD student at Rothamsted Research and the University of Nottingham, funded by the BBSRC. My research is on the generation and characterisation of novel semi-dwarf genes in wheat, which may be used to improve wheat yields in the future. One of the aims of the Nobel Week Dialogue (NWD) is to ‘deepen the dialogue between the scientific community and society’. I am passionate about science outreach and am excited to see how the event is organised and information delivered to a wide range of international participants. I hope to take away as much as I can to improve my own science communication skills, enabling me to work more effectively at future public engagement and knowledge exchange events. 

Gareth Thomas- gareth.thomas@rothamsted.ac.uk

I am a second year PhD student at Rothamsted Research and the University of Exeter, funded by the BBSRC. My project involves characterising the compounds being secreted from soil borne fungi, investigating how they can be used in agricultural systems to promote the growth of plants and deter fungal diseases, aiming to identify novel compounds which can sustainably replace environmentally damaging pesticides and fertilisers. I’m looking forward to hearing Nobel Prize winners and various food security experts discuss measures being taken on a global scale to attempt to achieve global food security from both a scientific and a societal perspective.

Sofia Iqbal – sofia.iqbal@rothamsted.ac.uk

I am a third year molecular biology PhD student at Rothamsted Research and the University of Nottingham, funded by the BBSRC and Bayer Animal Health. I work principally on resistance to pesticides in insects of economic importance. Identifying pesticide resistance mechanisms is of considerable significance for successful pest management strategies and for agricultural productivity. Using a variety of molecular techniques, I explore the genetic basis of resistance. The Nobel Week Dialogue will give me direct contact with ground-breaking science, and I’m hoping the open dialogue of the issues surrounding food security will not only educate but inspire me and my research.

Susana Silvestre – susana.silvestre@rothamsted.ac.uk

I am a second year PhD student at Rothamsted Research and the University of Nottingham, funded by the BBSRC. My research project focus on plant lipids and their structural and signalling properties with a potential protective role under cold stress, in a combined study with the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana and the extremophile Eutrema salsugineum. My motivation for the Nobel Week Dialogue is to be amongst and hear from the brilliant minds of our generation providing me with the opportunity to have an open discussion about food security and the impact of abiotic stress on agriculture. Questions like ‘How do we perceive science?’ and ‘How can we reach a bigger, and non-scientific crowd?’ also have my interest, and hopefully I will bring back some brilliant ideas!