Animal Section :

Winner: Joana Carmo (University of Aveiro)

Joana Maria Sousa Carmo is currently a PhD student at the University of Aveiro (Doctoral Program in Biology and Ecology of Global Change). She completed her Master's Degree in Eco-Toxicology and Risk Analysis in 2022 and her Degree in Biology and Geology in 2020 both from the University of Aveiro.

Joana was part of the Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, CESAM (from March 2023 to December 2023) working on the FCT SLEEP project ''Shedding light on freshwater ecosystems under environmental change and pollution'' which aims to study the effects of artificial light at night on aquatic invertebrates and investigates the role of the hormone melatonin. Joana has several international communications (conference poster and oral presentation) at the conference of the Iberian Society of Ecology (SIBECOL) and XXI Conference of the Iberian Association of Limnology (AIL), at the SETAC Europe 33rd Annual Meeting and and at the Society for experimental Biology Centenary Conference.

Throughout her work in the laboratory, Joana acquired experience in the maintenance of marine invertebrate cultures (Paracentrotus lividus) and maintenance of aquatic invertebrate cultures (Chironomus riparius, Girardia tigrina, Lumbriculus variegatus and Daphnia magna). She has experience with ecotoxicological tests (Determination of thermal tolerance after exposure to artificial light at night and exogenous melatonin in aquatic invertebrates and study the combined effects of light pollution with temperature, salinity, and pesticides on the life cycle of Chironomus riparius).

In addition, she has experience in assessing biochemical responses such as oxidative stress responses and oxidative damage, neurotoxicity, available energy and energy production. Her main research interest is related to freshwater invertebrates and study multiple stressors.

Plant Section :

Winner: Jake Hill (University of Nottingham)

Jake is  a BBSRC DTP funded PhD student at the Wheat Research Centre working on exploring the traits of the wheat wild relative Aegilops umbellulata.
His work revolves around wheat and wheat wild relative genetics alongside the use of phenotypic screening platforms to better understand the role that Ae. umbellulata might play in improving our global wheat crops.

This means you can usually find him in our glasshouses crossing if he is not away using a new phenotyping platform.

Before joining the WRC, he completed an MSci in plant science with a year in computer science here at the University of Nottingham.

 Animal Section :

Winner: Patrícia Ferreira (University of Porto)

Patrícia Ferreira is a comparative physiologist with BSc and MSc degrees from the University of Porto (Portugal) and a PhD from Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada). Her research primarily focuses on the evolution and function of the stomach in vertebrates. Recently, she generated the first fish knockout line for the gastric proton pump that is responsible for stomach acidification. This genetic line allowed her to explore the physiological and metabolic importance of the vertebrate stomach and associated acid-peptic digestion, highlighting its role in growth, energy and digestion. Her work integrates molecular biology techniques with evolutionary physiology, contributing to our understanding of organ function and adaptation in vertebrates.

Plant Section :

Winner: Caitlin Dudley (The University of Queensland)

Caitlin Dudley is a fourth-year PhD student currently conducting plant physiology research within agricultural and model plant species.
Her research focuses on utilizing various technologies and methodologies to gain a deeper understanding of the physiological and molecular mechanisms that underpin and regulate flowering in legumes.
Caitlin is particularly interested in translating knowledge of flowering in fundamental species to contribute to the development of sustainable agricultural systems, which have economic and social benefits to growers.

Cell Section :

Winner: Manuel González-Fuente (Ruhr-University of Bochum)

Postdoctoral researcher in the Plant Cell Biology Group at the Ruhr-University of Bochum (Germany) studying the role of the RNA decay machinery in plant defense, and how certain bacterial effectors can modulate it.