Thomas Roach

I have always wanted to stay within the discipline of conservation but enjoyed the excitement of research. This led me to the MSc in Plant Conservation at Sussex University. My Master's course included a six-months research project at the Seed Conservation Department of RBG Kew, Wakehurst Place, which was a real eye-opener into a novel ex situ strategy for conserving biodiversity. I saw the opportunity of combining my interests with work here, and was immediately drawn to the project. The quality of the labs and equipment with the expertise and such specific knowledge of the team helped in making my decision to apply for the position I am now in. My work is looking into reactive oxygen species (ROS) as markers of seed quality, funded by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust that was awarded to RBG Kew through my supervisor Dr Ilse Kranner.

My University supervisor is Dr John Pearson at the University College London.

Thomas and Dr Mariyana Ivanova

We collaborate with Professor Richard Beckett and Dr Mariyana Ivanova from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and Dr Farida Minibayeva of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Next year, I will attend an international conference to present my work and to conduct a 2 months period of research with our South African collaborators, which I am very happy about! I really enjoy working at the Seed Conservation Department and look forward to publishing and presenting what we found, and getting involved with the wider scientific community.