Research Interests

The conservation of plant genetic resources is a key activity, enabling plant breeders and scientists have access to as much of the genepool as possible of each crop species. Efficient and effective conservation will ensure that the resources will remain available in the long term, allowing use of the allelic diversity they represent. The UK Vegetable Genebank conserves diversity in a range of field vegetable crops such as carrot, onion, lettuce and brassicas. Our material has been used in a wide range of research, from resistance screening for key crop pathogens such as clubroot, cavity spot and black rot, as well as phylogenetic studies and projects seeking to understand the genetic basis of key plant and crop traits.

I am part of projects such as the Vegetable Genetic Improvement Network provide a pipeline from the UK Vegetable Genebank collections to breeding programmes, helping to deliver the new crop varieties required to support improving farming systems

I am particularly interested in carrot diversity, domestication and breeding. The UK Vegetable Genebank is part of the European Evaluation Network for carrot, a network of academic, public and commercial organisations undertaking joint evaluation and characterisation of carrot germplasm in Europe.