Andrew Fife Galloway: Plant Physiology First Author

Andrew Fife Galloway, first author of “Altered properties and structures of root exudate polysaccharides in a root hairless mutant of barley”

Current Position: Research Coordinator at the University of Oxford.

Education: PhD in Biology (Plant Science) and MSc in Plant Science and Biotechnology at the University of Leeds; BSc (Hons) in Applied Horticulture at Harper Adams University (UK).

Non-scientific interests: gardening, working out, crafts, hiking and traveling.

Brief bio:

I have been fascinated by plants ever since I could hold a trowel in my grandfather’s garden. Ever since then I have blended my two passions, horticulture and science. I specialised in the plant root-soil interaction during my PhD in Prof Paul Knox’s Cell Wall Lab where I uncovered the composition of secreted polysaccharides, and how they can reinforce the stability of the rhizosheath – the soil surrounding the roots – maintaining resource uptake. I continued my research at the University of Tromsø, in the northern most part of Norway under the supervision of Prof Kirsten Krause, exploring the composition of secreted polysaccharides from the dodder plant parasite. Now I work in science communication to spread the word of the wonders of plants.