Ottoline Leyser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ottoline Leyser
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Leyser in 2016
|
|
| Born |
Henrietta Miriam Ottoline Leyser
7 March 1965 Bicester, Oxfordshire, England
|
| Education | Wychwood School |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge (BA, PhD) |
| Known for | GARNet: Genomic Arabidopsis Resource Network |
| Spouse(s) |
Stephen John Day
(m. 1986) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) |
|
| Awards | Rosalind Franklin Award (2007) Genetics Society Medal (2016) EMBO Member (2017) Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (2012) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Plant Developmental Biology |
| Institutions |
|
| Thesis | An analysis of fasciated mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana and the role of cytokinin in this phenotype (1990) |
Dame Ottoline Leyser (born March 7, 1965) is a British scientist who studies plants. She is a top professor of botany at the University of Cambridge. She also leads a big group called UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Before this, she was the director of the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge from 2013 to 2020.
Contents
Education and Early Career
Ottoline Leyser went to Wychwood School in Oxford. She then studied at the University of Cambridge. In 1986, she earned her first degree in Natural Sciences. Later, in 1990, she completed her PhD in Genetics. Her research focused on how plants grow.
After her PhD, Leyser did more research at Indiana University. In 1994, she became a lecturer at the University of York. She worked there until 2010.
Research on Plant Growth
Ottoline Leyser is very interested in how plants develop. She studies the genes that control plant growth. She also looks at how plant hormones interact with the environment. Hormones are like chemical messengers inside plants.
Leyser helped create the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge. She was its director from 2013 to 2020. Her work helped us understand how a plant hormone called auxin works. She found the "receptor" for auxin, which was a big discovery. This helped explain how plants respond to their environment.
She also played a key role in making Arabidopsis a popular plant for scientific study. Arabidopsis is a small flowering plant. It is often used as a "model organism" in biology. This means it helps scientists learn about how all plants work.
Leadership in Science
In 2020, Ottoline Leyser became the Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This organization helps decide how the government's money is used for science and new ideas. In the same year, she was also named the Regius Professor of Botany at Cambridge. This is a very important position in plant science.
Awards and Recognition
Ottoline Leyser has received many awards for her important work.
- In 2007, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
- She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2009.
- In 2012, she was elected a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.
- She received the Rosalind Franklin Award in 2007. This award celebrates women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).
- In 2016, she was given the UK Genetic Society Medal. This award recognizes great contributions to genetics.
- In 2017, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). This was for her work in plant science, promoting science in society, and supporting equality in science.
- She also received the Women in Science Award from the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2017.
Personal Life
Ottoline Leyser is the daughter of two historians, Henrietta Leyser and Karl Leyser. She married Stephen John Day in 1986. They have two children, a son and a daughter. She has also been a guest on several BBC Radio programmes, talking about her life and work.
See also
In Spanish: Ottoline Leyser para niños
