Harnessing spectral data to understand plants and ecosystems under stress.

Hi I’m Anna, and I am a plant scientist researching optical stress signatures across ecosystems. I am a postdoc in the Kromdijk Lab, in the deparment of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. I am also a Rokos Postdoctoral Associate at Queens’ College.

My research is interdisciplinary, and focuses on harnessing spectral data to understand plants under stress. I also study the future effects of climate change on ecosystems. In terms of ecosystems I have worked on deciduous forests, steep-slope agriculture, and now work on peatland vegetation. The stressors I have studied include ozone pollution, elevated CO2, heat, and drought. I use a variety of optical and spectral techniques in my research.

Before coming to Cambridge, I did my DPhil in Biology at Oxford on the detecting the effects of ozone pollution in trees with partners from UKCEH. In 2024 I did a PhD internship at Kew Gardens supervised by Dr James Borrell, researching global climate risk to different types of agriculture.