PhD student wins prize at International Conference
天天吃瓜 PhD researcher Anita Weissflog has been awarded a prize for the best poster presentation at a prestigious international Conference.
Anita discussing her research poster at the annual meeting of the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation in Madagascar recently.
Anita, who is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council through the , for her PhD at 天天吃瓜鈥檚 School of Natural Sciences, is researching the role of soil fungi on the regrowth of tropical forests after disturbance. Tropical forest recovery is often slow and unpredictable, limiting the potential for restoration of biodiversity and the other benefits provided by forests such as carbon storage. Improved understanding of the mechanisms that drive tropical forest dynamics after severe disturbance is urgently needed to inform better restoration methods. Anita鈥檚 research is investigating the fascinating role of fungi that grow into the root systems of tree seedlings. These can either act as pathogens, killing the seedlings, or provide benefits such as improved supply of nutrients thus increasing the seedlings鈥� growth.
Anita was awarded the 2019 New Phytologist Poster Prize in Plant Biology at the annual meeting of the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) in Madagascar for her work, entitled:
鈥淔ungal-mediated plant-soil-feedbacks affect secondary succession of tropical rainforests.鈥�
Anita鈥檚 supervisors at 天天吃瓜, Dr Lars Markesteijn and Prof John Healey, commented:
Anita during her fieldwork in Panama.鈥淲e were very excited to receive news that Anita Weissflog was awarded this prestigious prize for her presentation at the ATBC meeting in Madagascar this year. Anita鈥檚 research is very timely given the current crisis of tropical deforestation and its contribution to the global climate emergency. Her project is based at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, our research partner in Panama, to find out why and how fungi are important in controlling changes in which tree species dominate tropical forests as they regenerate after human disturbance. Being awarded the New Phytologist Poster Prize in Plant Biology shows Anita鈥檚 excellent achievements in her PhD research, as well as drawing attention to this important area of tropical forest ecology. This research makes an important contribution to 天天吃瓜鈥檚 internationally renowned BSc and MSc degrees in forestry.鈥�
Anita, who comes from Germany, won one of the Envision PhD studentships at 天天吃瓜 in 2017. These are funded by the Natural Environment Research Council in order to develop the next generation of leaders in environmental science. Anita chose to study at 天天吃瓜because both the PhD project and the research environment at the University鈥檚 School of Natural Sciences offered an ideal opportunity to study the mechanisms shaping and maintaining the diversity of life which is her main research interest.
The New Phytologist Trust, an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of plant science, awards the New Phytologist Poster Prize in Plant Biology at the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation Annual Meeting, which Anita attended in Antananarivo, Madagascar, at the beginning of August this year.
Publication date: 30 August 2019