Katherine Meacham-Hensold is the Scientific Project Manager for the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project. Her research seeks to resolve bottlenecks in photosynthesis to improve the process and increase crop yields. Specifically, she is developing measurement techniques for key photosynthetic parameters to allow comparison of mechanisms, including photosynthetic electron transport and the operation efficiency of Rubisco. She graduated with honors and a bachelor’s degree in agricultural science from the Royal Agricultural University in the United Kingdom. She went on to earn her doctorate in plant sciences from the Australian National University and the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) High Resolution Plant Phenomics Centre in Canberra, Australia.
A team from the RIPE project has engineered potato to be more resilient to global warming showing 30% increases in tuber mass under heatwave conditions. This adaptation may provide greater food security for families dependent on potatoes, as these are often the same areas where the changing climate has already affected multiple crop seasons. Their work was recently published in Global Change Biology
02-Dec-2024 04:20:13 PM EST