Vanessa Tonet: Plant Physiology First Author

Vanessa Tonet, first author of “Deadly acceleration in the dehydration of Eucalyptus viminalis leaves coincides with high order vein cavitation”

Current Position: PhD candidate at the University of Tasmania, School of Biological Sciences

Education: Bsc in Biological Science and Msc in Global Change Ecology, University of Trieste, IT

Non-scientific Interests: rock climbing, tree climbing, hiking, and snorkelling

Brief bio: I grew up in a little village close to the Dolomites (Italy) where I developed my passion for the outdoors. I always loved walking in the woods and look at trees, but it is only during my Bachelor and Master degrees that, under the supervision of Prof Andrea Nardini and Dr Francesco Petruzzellis, I discovered the wonders of plant physiology. For my PhD I moved to Tasmania (AU) and with Prof Tim Brodribb we had a fun time investigating the failure of leaf water transport system. In my first author paper we explained how the uncontrolled spread of embolism in the final portion of leaf veins determines the acceleration in tissue shrinkage, with consequences on leaf functionality.