Nicholas Harberd facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nicholas Harberd
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|---|---|
| Born |
Nicholas Paul Harberd
15 July 1956 |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (MA, PhD) |
| Known for | Seed to Seed: The Secret Life of Plants |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Plant biology |
| Institutions |
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| Thesis | A genetical investigation of the alcohol dehydrogenase in barley (1981) |
Nicholas Paul Harberd, born on July 15, 1956, is a very important plant scientist. He holds a special position called the Sibthorpian Professor of Plant Science at the University of Oxford. This means he is a leading expert and teacher in the study of plants. He used to be in charge of the Department of Plant Sciences. Now, that department is part of the larger Department of Biology at Oxford University. He is also a Fellow of St John's College, Oxford.
Learning and Degrees
Nicholas Harberd studied at the University of Cambridge. He earned several degrees there. These included a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Arts, and a PhD. He finished his PhD in 1981. During his time at Cambridge, he was a student at Christ's College, Cambridge.
Work and Discoveries
Dr. Harberd worked as a scientist at the Plant Breeding Institute in Cambridge from 1982 to 1986. After that, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked from 1986 to 1988.
He leads a research team known as the Harberd group. This group was first located at the John Innes Centre. Since 2007, his group has been at the University of Oxford. This is when he became the Sibthorpian Professor of Plant Sciences.
He also helped write a textbook called Plant Biology. He wrote it with other scientists like George Coupland and Liam Dolan.
Awards and Special Recognition
In 2009, Nicholas Harberd was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the United Kingdom. It means he is recognized for his amazing contributions to science.
His work has greatly helped us understand how plants grow. He discovered how a plant hormone called gibberellin helps plants get bigger. He showed that this hormone works by stopping certain proteins that usually slow down growth. This discovery helps explain how plants change their growth based on their surroundings.
His research also explained how this process led to the "green revolution". The green revolution was a time when new types of wheat were developed. These new wheat varieties could produce much more food. Dr. Harberd's discoveries have been very important for understanding plant development, how plants change over time, and for improving farming.
