Ottoline Leyser facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ottoline Leyser
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Leyser in 2016
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| Born |
Henrietta Miriam Ottoline Leyser
7 March 1965 Bicester, Oxfordshire, England
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| 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) |
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| 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 |
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| 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 famous British plant scientist. She studies how plants grow and develop. She is a Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge. From 2013 to 2020, she was the director of the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge. Since 2020, she has been the CEO of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This organization helps decide where government money goes for science research.
Contents
Education and Early Life
Ottoline Leyser was born in Oxfordshire, England. She went to Wychwood School in Oxford. Later, she studied at the University of Cambridge. She earned her first degree in Natural Sciences in 1986. Then, in 1990, she completed her PhD in Genetics. Her research focused on how plants grow.
Research and Career in Plant Science
After her PhD, Dr. Leyser did more research at Indiana University. Then, she became a lecturer at the University of York. She worked there from 1994 to 2010.
Leading Plant Research
Dr. Leyser helped create the Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge. This lab does important research on plants. She was the director of this lab from 2013 to 2020. Her main research looks at the genetics of plant development. She also studies how plant hormones interact with the environment. Hormones are like chemical messengers that tell plants how to grow.
Leadership in Science Funding
In 2020, Dr. Leyser became the Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). This is a very important job. UKRI is the main group that gives government money to science research and new ideas in the UK. In the same year, she was also chosen as the Regius Professor of Botany at Cambridge. This is a special and old title for a top plant scientist.
Awards and Honours
Ottoline Leyser has received many awards for her amazing work.
- In 2007, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honour for scientists in the UK.
- She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2009. This award is given for great service to the country.
- In 2012, she was chosen as a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. This means she is recognized by top scientists in the United States.
- She received the UK Genetic Society Medal in 2016. This award is for outstanding work in genetics.
- In 2017, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). This is a very high honour, like being knighted. It was for her work in plant science, helping science in society, and promoting equality in science.
- Also in 2017, she won the Women in Science Award. This award celebrates women who have made big contributions to science.
Her research has greatly helped us understand how plants develop. She found out how a key plant hormone, called auxin, works. This solved a long-standing mystery in biology. She also helped make Arabidopsis a very important plant for scientific study.
Personal Life
Ottoline Leyser's parents, Henrietta Leyser and Karl Leyser, were both historians. She married Stephen John Day in 1986. They have two children, a son and a daughter. She has also been a guest on science radio shows, sharing her knowledge with others.
See also
In Spanish: Ottoline Leyser para niños
