Opening the door to
Warwick HRI
Newsletter July 2009
Contents
The Secretary of State for the Environment at Warwick HRI The Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn MP visited Warwick HRI to see examples of our world-class research and development. During the visit, The Secretary of State was shown research by Dave Chandler addressing the world-wide threat to honey bees. Researcher Guy Barker also explained how Warwick HRI’s Genetic Resources Unit will contribute to sustainable crop production in a changing climate, about the development of crop plants that use water more efficiently, and how plants can be exploited as sources of materials and energy. The Secretary of State was shown the EcoOne racing car, developed at WMG, which is made entirely of sustainable materials and can run on biofuel. The University of Warwick Departments Warwick HRI and WMG are collaborating on research into ‘green’ technologies, including the use of more environmentally friendly/recyclable materials in products and manufacturing processes, and the development of processes to enable the re-use of waste materials.
Rt. Hon. Hilary Benn visits Warwick HRI
P1
Registering as a student
P2
Accommodation
P2
Summer party
P2
Cahyo Prayogo tallks about his PhD
P3
Student Symposium
P3
Living with Environmental Change
P4
MSc Study Opportunities
P5
Meet the team
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Professor Brian Thomas commented “Warwick HRI is very pleased to have the opportunity to host the Secretary of State and show him examples of our research, much of which is supported by his Department. The interest he has taken in our work is greatly appreciated by our staff and will provide further motivation to address the important topics of climate change, food production and alternatives to fossil fuels in a sustainable future.”
Left to Right: Guy Barker, Warwick HRI Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP Steve Maggs, WMG Nicholas Milton, prospective parliamentary candidate
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Registering as a student at the University of Warwick There are two stages to completing your registration as a student at the University of Warwick: A.
Online enrolment1 and online photograph submission2 must be completed before you arrive at the University otherwise your University card will not be ready for collection when you arrive.
B.
Collecting your University card.
1 2
Online enrolment will open on the 14 September 2009 Online photo submission will open on the 17 August 2009 Please visit the Enrolment pages www.warwick.ac.uk/go/welcome/enrolment for more information.
Accommodation Students have a choice of where to live. Either on-campus, near Warwick HRI, or in one of the popular nearby towns. A wide variety of on- and off-campus accommodation is available, including halls of residence, flats, and lodgings both university and privately owned. All full-time postgraduates are entitled to apply for university accommodation. Further information is available from www.warwick.ac.uk/go/accommodation. Accommodation must be applied for online via www.warwick.ac.uk/go/applywa - the deadline for which is 31 July 2009.
Summer Party Staff and students, together with their families, enjoyed a Departmental party on a glorious summer evening in June.
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Cahyo Prayogo talks about his PhD Climate change is caused by rising quantities of green house gases, particularly CO2, in the atmosphere. There is interest in sustainable energy generation from renewable resources, particularly biomass crops, to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. A key advantage of such energy systems is that they assimilate atmospheric CO2 and thus help mitigate against climate change. Soil itself represents one of the largest pools of carbon in the biosphere, and there is potential to use soil as a sink to capture carbon. Novel soil management tools to improve soil quality are needed to optimize carbon capture in terrestrial ecosystems using alternate land use systems in which biomass crops are grown. The aim of my PhD studentship is to investigate carbon dynamics in soil under different land uses. Specifically, I am studying carbon capture in soil under short rotation coppice (SRC), which is one of the major biomass cropping systems in temperate climates. Using 15 year old plantations of poplar and willow, which are established at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire, I have investigated how the quantity and quality of organic matter under the SRC plantations compares to that under adjacent land uses, including arable cropping, grassland and natural woodland. I have demonstrated that change in land use to SRC leads to increase in soil carbon relative to alternative agricultural systems. A pool of soil organic matter, known as light fraction organic matter (LFOM) is an early indicator of long term change in total soil organic matter content. I have discovered that LFOM can be split into a rapidly responding “free” pool and relatively inert “intra aggregate” pool and that the land use type influences the distribution of “free” LFOM, particularly in the upper layer of soil. Differences in the quantity and composition of litter inputs most likely contribute to differences in the rate of accumulation of carbon within these pools. One option for generating sustainable energy from SRC biomass is partial pyrolysis of wood to charcoal, which leads to approximately 25% of the initial biomass carbon becoming stabilised as biochar, in which the carbon is stable for millennia. My future work will focus on the potential to capture carbon in soil as biochar. I will investigate how biochar application to soil under SRC affects soil carbon cycling processes and particularly the amount of carbon captured in labile organic matter pools.
Student Symposium 2009 The students organised an excellent 2-day Student Symposium this year with 1st and 2nd year students presenting posters and 3rd year students giving presentations. Of the 18 posters submitted, the winner of the prize for Clear Scientific Content was Chunyang Li. The award for Clear Use of Graphics was given to Limin Xu. Limin Xu, poster prize winner
Both award categories (clear scientific content & clarity of delivery) for the presentations were, for the first time, awarded to the same student - Aaron Abbott.
All the abstracts were presented in a Symposium Booklet, the cover of which was designed by student Limin Xu. Student Symposium videos available soon at www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study
Living with Environmental Change The University of Warwick: providing knowledge and tools to help people live with environmental change. We are entering a period of unprecedented environmental change that, if not addressed, threatens ecosystems, agriculture, health and our built environment. In response to this challenge, the UK has launched a major tenyear interdisciplinary research and policy programme, LWEC (Living with Environmental Change). As one of the UK’s leading research and teaching establishments, the University of Warwick is ideally placed to address the global issues connected with environmental change. We have a world-class reputation for innovation, enterprise, and partnership. We deliver knowledge and tools to help people adapt to environmental change and develop the low carbon economy. We provide evidence for policy development by governments, industry and civil society. Through our teaching, communication and outreach programmes, we engage with people over the implications, opportunities and solutions to environmental change.
We continue our series outlining our research projects that fit with the objectives of the LWEC programme LWEC Objectives: To predict the impacts of climate change, mitigate or adapt to these and manage extreme events. To manage ecosystems for human well-being and protect the natural environment as it changes. To promote human wellbeing, alleviate poverty and minimise waste by ensuring a sustainable supply of food and water. To protect human, plant and animal health from diseases, pests and environmental hazards. To make infrastructure, the built environment and transport systems resilient to environmental change. To help people from different cultural and social backgrounds respond to a changing environment. www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/lwec/objectives
Basidiomycete fungal genomics: impacts on the natural and built environments - led by Dr Dan Eastwood Basidiomycete fungi play a central role in nutrient cycling in the temperate and boreal forest ecosystems, which have human impact in terms of carbon cycling and exploitation as a source of wood. In addition, the dry rot decay fungus, Serpula lacrymans, has a major effect on the built environment causing losses of millions of pounds to timber decay and treatment. Other basidiomycete fungi, such as the white cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus, are exploited as a major food crop creating a billion-dollar mushroom production industry. We are conducting research into improving crop production by understanding the molecular and physiological basis of mushroom formation, and product quality by investigating quality-loss during post-harvest storage and virus infection. This has included developing the first mushroom microarray and gene down regulation in A. bisporus by RNA interference. Serpula lacrymans var. lacrymans commonly called ‘dry rot’ is almost exclusively found in the built environment where it causes extensive damage to timber, also known as a brown rot fungus it removes virtually all the lignocellulosic sugars leaving lignin in situ. The increased rainfall and higher temperatures associated with climate change are likely to increase the invasion by this fungus, while little is known about how the fungus spreads and colonises its habitat. We are currently exploiting the novel mechanism of lignocellulose attack by this fungus to develop the next generation of biorefineries to produce novel chemicals and biofuels from plant wastes. Warwick University is co-ordinating the annotation of the recently sequenced S. lacrymans genome and is developing research programmes to investigate how fungal morphology and intracellular nitrogen status affects substrate decay. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/research/mushroomresearch/ mushroomquality/daneastwood Page 4
Postgraduate study opportunities
W
arwick HRI is dedicated to academic excellence in plant and microbial sciences and the application of research to improve crops and the environment. Teaching and research are underpinned by core capabilities in mathematical biology, biometrics, genomics and bioinformatics.
MSc Environmental Bioscience in a Changing Climate Exploiting natural resources affects the global climate, agricultural production and biodiversity. This course explores solutions for the sustainable provision of food, materials, energy and landscape in a changing global environment. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscenvbioscience
MSc Enterprise in Horticulture
This course is designed for those seeking a career in businesses involved in growing, supplying and marketing fresh produce in competitive markets. A commercial placement or research project enables students to put research skills into practice, matching skills and business needs. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscenterprise
MSc Plant Bioscience for Crop Production
Global improvements in crop production depend on the knowledge-led application of plant science and biotechnology. This course provides you with cutting-edge research skills across a broad range of plant science disciplines. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscbioscience
MSc by Research
This is a practical course based on a research project under the supervision a research leader. Warwick HRI’s extensive facilities offer the chance to use the latest technologies for innovative personal study. If you are interested in this degree, please contact an appropriate research leader or the Director of Graduate Studies. www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mscresearch
MSc Email enquiries: whri.msc@warwick.ac.uk Information on PhD study opportunities: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/mphilphd IIn
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Meet the team... Dr Gary Bending Course Leader: BSc Environmental Biology gary.bending@warwick.ac.uk
Dr Kerry Burton Course Leader: MSc Plant Bioscience for Crop Production kerry.burton@warwick.ac.uk
Professor Richard Napier Director of Graduate Studies Course Leader: MSc Enterprise in Horticulture richard.napier@warwick.ac.uk
Dr Paul Neve Course Leader: MSc Environmental Bioscience in a Changing Climate p.neve@warwick.ac.uk
Mrs Denny Croft MSc Teaching Co-ordinator
Mrs Jeanette Horton Newsletter Editor
denny.croft@warwick.ac.uk
jeanette.horton@warwick.ac.uk
Dr Stephen Jackson Director of Postgraduate Research
Miss Nikki Glover Postgraduate Co-ordinator
stephen.jackson@warwick.ac.uk
whri.phd@warwick.ac.uk
Useful websites University of Warwick: www.warwick.ac.uk Warwick HRI: www.warwickhri.ac.uk Postgraduate study: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study Undergraduate study: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/undergraduate International Office: go.warwick.ac.uk/international Take a Tour of Warwick HRI: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/video Preview Podcasts: www.warwick.ac.uk/go/whri/study/podcasts
www.warwickhri.ac.uk
Warwick HRI The University of Warwick Wellesbourne Warwickshire CV35 9EF UNITED KINGDOM Phone: + 44 (0)2476 574455 Fax: +44 (0) 2476 574500 MSc Email Enquiries: whri.msc@warwick.ac.uk PhD Email Enquiries: whri.phd@warwick.ac.uk BSc Email Enquiries: whri.undergrad@warwick.ac.uk Page 6