Recognizing Plant Physiology first authors: Charilaos Yiotis

Charilaos Yiotis, first author of A novel hypothesis for the role of photosynthetic physiology in shaping macroevolutionary patterns

Current Position: Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the group of Prof. Jennifer C. McEwain, Department of Botany, Trinity College Dublin

Education: Ph.D. in Plant Physiology and B.Sc. in Biology, University of Patras, Greece

Non-scientific interests: rafting, basketball, cooking, watching documentaries and classic films

Brief Bio: I graduated from the University of Patras, Greece with a B.Sc. in Biology and went on to complete a Ph.D. degree in Plant Physiology under the joint supervision of Prof. Yiannis Manetas and Prof. George K. Psaras. Since then, I have undertaken 2 post-doctoral research fellowships; first under the mentorship of Prof. Jennifer McElwain on the ERC-funded project ‘Oxyevol’ followed by an independent Irish Research Council fellowship for my project entitled ‘Futu-Rye’ under the mentorship of Prof. Bruce Osborne Currently, I am an iCRAG Research Fellow working on a proof of concept project, which aims to optimize a protocol for enhanced plant-mediated carbon sequestration under climate change conditions.

My expertise in plant photosynthesis and gas exchange has led to significantly improved understanding of the adaptability of photosynthesis and photorespiration to atmospheric change in different evolutionary groups and most recently has been employed to test prevailing assumptions about optimized stomatal behavior in land plants under climate change, with important implications for the hydrological cycle. My research spans from basic research on the evolutionary and ecological significance of plant physiological and anatomical traits to the applied use of these traits to screen future crops that will be most productive/resilient under anthropogenic climate change.