Recognizing Plant Physiology authors: Jakub Tesitel

Jakub Tesitel, first author of The bright side of parasitic plants: What are they good for?

Current Position: Associate Professor in Botany, Masaryk University, Czech Republic

Education: Masters degree in plant systematics and Ph.D. in botany (plant ecology) , University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic

Non-scientific Interests: hiking, cross-country skiing, gardening, photography, underground & punk music

Brief bio: I am a keen nature observer and field ecologist. In my work, I particularly enjoy conducting carefully designed field experiments and surveys studying ecology of parasitic plants, and other aspects of plant life and communities.

I have been interested in plants since my secondary school age. After coming to the university, I started my bachelor and then master research in plant systematics. By coincidence, this focused on evolution of an herbaceous hemiparasitic species. This provoked my interest in biology of parasitic plants in general. My Ph.D. research involved a range of aspects of biology of hemiparasitic Orobanchaceae including the evolution, ecology, and physiology. Recently, I have focused on testing the possibility to use parasitic plants as biological control of plant invasions. I am happy that this has already resulted in first applications in biodiversity restoration.