Of Trees and PhDs

An amateurish Sherlock of aliphatic-polysaccharide bonds, I spend my days unravelling the secret lives of poplar trees as a plant metabolomics researcher. When I am not playing plant detective in the lab, you will find this sneaky globe-trotter hunting for clues in the great outdoors.

Most people think metabolites are just for humans. But plants are secret chemists, making thousands of tiny molecules to survive, defend, and build. Join me for a funny true story, surprising plant chemistry, and how lipids literally glue plant walls together -- all sparked by one confused question on a mountain chair lift.

Laura is a PhD student at SLU, currently investigating how age influences flowering in trees. Originally from Barcelona, Spain, she is fascinated by flowers and sadly allergic to pollen. In her free time, she is always up for a good conversation and loves to sing.

Is science frustrating? Yes. Is it also fascinating? Absolutely. During my PhD, I have been trying to make trees flower early so that the forestry industry can get better trees, faster. It has been a challenging road, full of unexpected side-quests. Come hear my story!

Dinesh D.C., from Pondicherry, India, completed his graduate studies in India and earned his PhD in Germany. He pursued a research career in structural biology in the US and Czechia and is now a Marie Curie Fellow.

"After years of struggling with a challenging protein involved in plant hormone signaling, a bold idea unexpectedly worked during an experiment over Christmas break, ultimately allowing me to understand it and complete my PhD."