Council Members
President
Prof. Ian Johnston is Chandos Professor of Physiology at the University of St-Andrews.
He is also Director of the Gatty Marine Laboratory and Director of Research for the School of Biology.
iaj@st-and.ac.uk
Vice President
Pat (J.S.) Heslop-Harrison is Professor of Plant Cell Biology and Molecular Cytogenetics at the University of Leicester.
He looks at the organization, function and evolution of chromosomes with a particular focus on the repetitive DNA. Much of his work is with plants, including tropical crops and polyploids, and interest in comparative genomics means the projects extend to Drosophila and bivalves, with simpler models used for systems biology. He is interested in training and research application whether in agriculture and plant breeding for resource-poor farmers, or policy development,or through his spin-out company involved in hyperspectral photon detection. His homepage is www.molcyt.com and his email address is phh4(a)le.ac.uk.
Treasurer
Dr Martin Watson is a researcher at Durham University and works on natural killer cells (Ooooh-er! ed) looking to target virally infected or cancerous cells.
He has been an ardent supporter of the SEB for many years and is now in control of the Society purse strings. Martin.watson@durham.ac.uk
Publications Officer
Prof Mike Burrell trained as a biochemical plant pathologist which led his research into Ain plants. He has worked in both academia and in industry.
m.burrell@sheffield.ac.uk
Animal Section Secretary
Richard Handy is a Reader in Toxicology & Physiology at the University of Plymouth, and was classically trained as a fish physiologist during his PhD at Dundee University under the guidance of Professor Brian Eddy. Richard specialises in the effects of trace metal pollutants on osmoregulation, and especially on the gut as an osmoregulatory organ. He has been a member of the SEB for 20 years, and a past convenor for the osmoregulation group.
He has worked on the ion transport and homeostasis of many elements, including sodium, magnesium, and copper. In addition, he has also worked on how toxic trace metals such as mercury and cadmium interfere with physiological processes. Richard is a true comparative biologist, and has worked on invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and mammals and has promoted the use of in vitro perfused organ preparations in this field, and other alternative techniques. In addition to a long standing interest in fundamental osmoregulatory physiology, Richard is an expert fish pathologist/ecotoxicologist, and has also worked on the surface chemistry of pollutants on fish gills for many years. This interest in biological-chemical interphases has been applied to nanomaterials. He has recently published several papers on the effects of nanoparticles on fish. Richard comes to the end of his term as Section Secretary in 2008. r.handy@plymouth.ac.uk
Cell Section Secretary
Mathis Riehle works at the Centre for Cell Engineering, which is an interdisciplinary group of engineers and biologists, with considerable expertise in fabricating micro- and nanometric surface features (chemical, topographical or NEW mechanical) and assessing cell responses to micro- and nanofabricated topographic or chemically patterned surfaces.
m.riehle@bio.gla.ac.uk
Plant Section Secretary
Keith Lindsey is Director of Research and Professor of Plant Molecular Biology at Durham University%u2019s School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. He is also co-founder and a Scientific Director of Creative Gene Technology Ltd., a University spin-out company focused on developing new products for the AgBiotech arena. His basic research interests are in understanding molecular mechanisms of plant development.
His early research was aimed at understanding the control of plant secondary metabolism, with the ultimate goal of developing biotechnological approaches to exploiting plant cells as synthetic factories. More recently his work has been characterized by an integrative approach, using genetics, genomics, proteomics and physiology to understand gene function during embryogenesis and in meristems, which represent the source of stem cell-like cells in plants. Most of his work currently is with the powerful genetic model Arabidopsis. He is a member of the UK Government Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) and, until recently, the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee and the BBSRC Steering Committee for Arabidopsis Functional Genomics (GARNet). He has worked on a number of other BBSRC and Scottish Office Committees and Working Groups.
keith.lindsey@durham.ac.uk
Investments Officer
Prof. Len Evans is Emeritus Professor of Life Sciences and currently Registrar at the University of Buckingham. Well-known for his work on the prevention of fouling on ships, Len has been Editor-in-Chief of the international journalBiofouling, the Journal of Bioadhesion and Biofilm Research, since its inception in 1988.
A former Treasuer of the Society, Len has guided us through many a market slump and so far we have always come out relatively unscathed. In fact due to our wise investments over the years we were able to purchase the new Society headquarters in Southampton. len.evans@buckingham.ac.uk
Education Section Secretary
Christine Foyer holds the Chair in Molecular Agriculture at Newcastle University. She is ranked number 7 in the top 10 list of world-wide most cited authors in Plant and Animal Sciences (http://www.in-cites.com/top/2007/first07-pla.html). She is also the highest ranking woman in Plant and Animal Science citations.
Christine is a specialist in redox biology and antioxidant metabolism, and also in primary carbon and nitrogen assimilation, metabolism and interactions in plants. The aim of her work is to understand the role of redox regulation and signalling in the acclimation of photosynthesis and respiration and associated carbon/nitrogen metabolism to environmental stress. Her lab uses a range of transgenic approaches as well as mutants are used to study plant stress responses in model (Arabidopsis, tobacco) and crop (maize, soybean, pea) species. She also works closely with colleagues in Africa in capacity building projects to develop a better understanding of the responses that enable plants to withstand environmental abiotic stresses particularly drought and chilling. The ultimate goal of this work is to develop crops that show lower levels stress-induced senescence and death and perform more predictability in the extreme environmental conditions.
Christine promotes gender equality in science and initiatited the Women in Science events during the SEB's Main Meetings and other conferences such as FESPB and the recent Photosynthesis Congress 2007. She is also active in supporting public engagement activities and education, particularly in collaboration with partners such as societies of the Biosciences Federation and international societies such as ASPB.
Christine.foyer@ncl.ac.uk
Independent Member
Alun Anderson is currently writing a book on ‘The Future of the Arctic’ to be published by HarperCollins in 2009. He also helps manage a start-up business called Xconomy.com which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Seattle and brings together scientists and investors. He is Senior Consultant at New Scientist magazine and a member of the Council of the Royal Institution. Between 1992 and 2005 he was variously Editor, Editor-in-Chief and Publishing Director of New Scientist magazine. Before that he worked at the journals Nature (as News & Views Editor, Japan bureau chief and US Editor) and at Science (as International Editor) and lived in London, Tokyo and Washington DC. He received his doctorate from the University of Edinburgh and working as a post-doc in the Animal Behaviour Research Group in Oxford.
