[Rory Burke]

Hi Jiawen, thanks for starting this discussion! I know one of the biggest challenges in tackling plant awareness disparity is getting people to recognize how widespread plant products are (lots of younger kids for example will not realize that bread, pasta, sugar etc are all processed forms of plants) and I think your iodine staining game is the perfect way to demonstrate that!

My area of research in plant programmed cell death and so one of the best sci-comm methods we have is to use plant species like monstera deliciosa (swiss cheese plant) that show these processes on a macro-level. It helps that they also look cool, and nowadays plenty of people have them at home and may have wondered how they form their cool patterns. The SEM images are also a great tool, especially if you can adequately explain to people just how tiny the structures they’re looking at are.

[Rory Burke]

Hello everyone! My name is Rory and I’m currently a PhD researcher at University College Dublin in Ireland. I carried out my undergraduate degree at Trinity College Dublin, where my thesis focused mammalian biochemistry and metabolism, but thankfully I had a change of heart and turned to the ‘green side’ to begin my career in plant science research!

My current doctoral work is on the regulation of programmed cell death (PCD) in plants, a genetically controlled process responsible for the elimination of damaged, infected or structurally redundant cells throughout the plants’ lifecycle. To do this I am utilizing an Arabidopsis cell culture system as well as Arabidopsis t-DNA insertion mutants, alongside RNA-seq and multiple phenotyping methods. I also have a particular interest in the roles of auxin signalling, chromatin accessibility and polyamines in both PCD and stress tolerance.

Outside of the lab I love to run, especially in the hills and mountains when possible, which gives me a good opportunity to brush up on my plant ID skills. I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone else here – please feel free to contact me on this profile or via twitter (https://twitter.com/rorby95) if there’s anything you’d like to discuss!