Jane A. Langdale facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jane Langdale
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Jane Langdale at Royal Society admissions day in London, July 2015
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Jane Alison Langdale
25 August 1960 |
| Education | Barr's Hill School |
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| Thesis | Gene detection using immobilised DNA probes (1985) |
Jane Alison Langdale is a famous British geneticist and professor. She was born in 1960. A geneticist is a scientist who studies genes and heredity in living things.
Professor Langdale works at the University of Oxford. She is a Professor of Plant Development in the Department of Biology. This means she studies how plants grow and change.
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Education and Early Studies
Jane Langdale went to Barr's Hill Grammar School in Coventry. She then studied at the University of Bath. In 1982, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Biology. She focused on microbiology, which is the study of tiny living things.
Later, she earned her PhD from the University of London. Her PhD research was in human genetics.
Career and Plant Research
After finishing her PhD, Jane Langdale worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University in the United States. A postdoctoral researcher is a scientist who continues to do research after getting their PhD. She worked there for five years.
In 1990, she came back to the UK. She started working at the University of Oxford. She has been there ever since, studying plants.
What Jane Langdale Studies
Professor Langdale's research focuses on two main areas:
- How leaves have changed and grown over time in different types of plants. This includes plants like mosses, ferns, and other ancient plant groups.
- How special plant structures, called kranz anatomy, developed in C4 plants. C4 plants are very good at photosynthesis in hot, sunny places.
Her research has been supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). This is a group that helps fund science projects. Her work has been published in important scientific journals like Nature and Science.
Jane Langdale also wrote a book called How to Succeed as a Scientist: From Postdoc to Professor. She appeared on a BBC TV show called Plants: From Roots to Riches in 2014.
Awards and Special Honours
Jane Langdale has received many awards for her important work.
Fellow of the Royal Society
In 2015, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honour for scientists in the UK. It means she is recognized for her amazing contributions to science.
The Royal Society said that Jane Langdale's work has greatly improved our understanding. She showed how plants make leaves and how leaves changed as plants evolved. Her research helped us understand how leaves grow from the very beginning. It also showed how different types of cells form and how chloroplasts (which help plants make food) develop.
Other Important Awards
- In 2007, she became a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO).
- In 2018, she was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE). This is an honour given by the King or Queen for great achievements.
- Also in 2018, she received a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Bath. This was an honorary degree, meaning it was given to celebrate her achievements.
- In 2019, she was chosen as a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.
- In 2020, she became a corresponding member of the Australian Academy of Science.
Personal Life
Jane Langdale loves Airedale Terrier dogs and has always had them. She is the older sister of Rachel Langdale, who is a well-known barrister (a type of lawyer).
