Elizabete is interested in photosynthesis and plant responses to fluctuations in the environment, in particular light and temperature. Her PhD studies focused on photosynthesis and photorespiration in C4 grasses under drought stress. During her post-doctoral research she specialized on Rubisco activation by its molecular chaperone, Rubisco activase, while conducting studies on the interplay between drought and heat stress in cotton. In 2012 she started working on improving photosynthetic performance to increase wheat crop yields at Rothamsted Research, before becoming a lecturer in Plant Sciences for Food Security at the Lancaster Environment Centre in 2015. Her research aims to improve global food security and resource use efficiency by optimising crop performance in response to the changing climate.
Elizabete works closely with all members of the Photosynthesis team at LEC. For more details, please visit our website: wp.lancs.ac.uk/lancsphotosynthesis/
Our research is funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation award RIPE (via a sub-contract to the University of Illinois), and the International Wheat Yield Partnership (IWYP).
Elizabete is a member of the PhD monitoring panel for Plants and Agriculture at LEC and her main teaching includes a second year undergraduate module in Research Design and Delivery as part of the LEC BSc degree schemes in Biology and Ecology & Conservation.
I am interested in supervising projects that relate to photosynthesis, crop productivity and the interaction of plants with the surrounding environment, in particular light and temperature.