Ellen Curtis
I am interested in understanding the interaction between plants and their environment at multiple...
What are your qualifications prior to this degree?
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Environmental Science (UTS)
Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology (UTS).
Degree you are studying
PhD Thesis: Science (UTS)
Name/s of your supervisor/s
Dr Andrea Leigh (Primary), Dr Brad Murray (Secondary)
Your research project title
Response to and Recovery from Heat Stress: Thermal Tolerance of Australian Arid Land Vegetation
Please describe your research project
I am interested in understanding the interaction between plants and their environment at multiple scales. My current work focuses on acclimation and adaption of plants to extreme high temperatures, with a particular interest in how arid species vary their thermal damage thresholds both spatially and temporally. This work is being addressed through field work conducted at the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden, South Australia.
What is the aim of your project?
My present work aims to capture the complexity of species’ response to temperature as a means of improving our understanding of how altered thermal regimes may impact plants with respect to heat stress. Some of the questions I will be addressing are as follows:
- Are thermal damage thresholds (T50) of desert plant species’ correlated with their capacity to recover from a short-term heat stress event?
- Is warming tolerance for desert plants higher at high latitudes, as has been shown for terrestrial ectotherms?
- Do the thermal damage thresholds of desert plants correspond with species’ broad distributions and/or species’ native microhabitats?
- Does T50 show clear spatial differences between groups of species with contrasting (wet/ dry) native microhabitats? (Reflecting spatial acclimatisation) • Does the variation in T50 between groups of species with contrasting (wet/ dry) native microhabitats remain consistent between seasons? (Reflecting temporal acclimatisation) • Does phylogeny influence spatial and temporal responses? (Reflecting phylogenetic signalling) • How do species responses vary with a change in the intensity and duration of a heat stress event?
- Do leaf morphological and spectral properties known to influence leaf thermal dynamics (e.g., LMA, thickness and reflectance) trade-off with physiology (i.e., T50) as a means of protecting plants against high temperature stress?
Why did you choose to pursue a research degree as opposed to going into the work force? Why this area of research?
After completing an Honours year I wanted to take the opportunity to learn as much as I could about my area of study and develop my skills in research – a PhD is the perfect opportunity to accomplish this.
What is your daily activity?
As I am currently completing Stage 3 of my research degree I am spending much of my time writing my thesis and research papers for publication. Prior to this my time was split between going to my study site to conduct field work and the office to analyse data.
What attracted you to research at UTS Science?
I initially chose to attend UTS when completing my undergraduate degree as a number of interesting field-based subjects were offered as electives. These subjects and the staff involved inspired me to move into research and helped me develop a lasting passion for arid plant ecology.
My future
I love that our understanding of how the environment and its components function is an ever changing science. This is what makes research in any field exciting and a challenge. In light of that, I would love to continue to develop my skills as a scientist and stay within the realm of research in some capacity.
