Recognizing Plant Physiology authors: Sam Wilson

Sam Wilson, first author of Rethinking the influence of chloroplast movements on non-photochemical quenching and photoprotection

Current Position: PhD student, Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London

Education: BSc Biochemistry, Queen Mary University of London

Non-scientific Interests: music, literature, and cinema

Brief Bio: I studied biochemistry at Queen Mary University of London, where I graduated with a BSc in 2017, during this time I developed a passion for photosynthesis and bioenergetics.  I worked within the laboratory of Prof. Alexander Ruban and worked on photoprotection in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum with Dr. Vasco Giovagnetti. Following this, I started my PhD in the Ruban laboratory, and I am currently working on higher plants. The focus of my project is on the photoprotective process, non-photochemical quenching, which involves the dissipation of excess absorbed light energy as heat by the photosynthetic apparatus. Specifically, I am studying the effectiveness and limitations of this process on the ability of the plant to tolerate light. This could have important implications for the manipulation of light harvesting in both biotechnology and agriculture.