Anthony Trewavas

Anthony J. Trewavas FRS FRSE is a Professor at the Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology of the University of Edinburgh^[2] , best known for his research in the fields of plant physiology and molecular biology. His lifetime research has concerned what is now recognized as plant behaviour.

Education

He was born in 1939 and his secondary school education was at John Roans Grammar School, Blackheath, London which he left in 1958 with five A levels. He obtained both his degree and Ph.D in Biochemistry at University College London before performing post doctoral work at the newly constituted University of East Anglia.

Academic career

He moved to the University of Edinburgh in 1970. In 1972 he was invited to be first Visiting Professor at the prestigious Plant Research laboratory in Michigan State University. At the time this laboratory was regarded as the foremost laboratory dealing with plant research. He also, after invitation, spent periods of time as Visiting Professor at other Universities in the Americas and Europe usually providing up to 20 lectures. He is the author of some 250 scientific papers and three books both as editor and author. He was made Professor Emeritus in the University of Edinburgh in 2004.

Research

Plant behavior is simply the response to signals. His main research contribution as the leader of the Edinburgh Molecular Signalling Group, has been in the role of calcium in signal transduction during plant development.^[3]

Awards

He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1993), the Royal Society of Arts (1995), the Royal Society of London (1999), the Centre for Future Studies (2001) ^[4] Academia Europea in 2002 and received the "corresponding membership" award from the American Society of Plant Biologists in 1999,^[5] a prize given to one non-US biologist per year.^[6] He is named by the Institute for Scientific Information as in the most highly cited author group in the field of animal and plant Sciences.^[7] He is a past or present member of the editorial boards of the publications, Trends in Plant Science, Botanica Acta, Plant Physiology, What's New in Plant Physiology, Biochemical Journal "Molecular Plant", "Plant Signaling and Behaviour", Plant, Cell and Environment.

Evidence to parliament

Professor Trewavas submitted written evidence to the Science and Technology Committee of the UK Parliament in April 2013.^[8] He summarized his evidence as follows:

• The difference between projection and prediction
• The necessity of scepticism in climate science and the difficulties in testing climate models
• Whether CO₂ increase is the driver of climate temperature or is it the reverse?
• I conclude that a lack of certainty should lead to removal of legislation

Publications

• Trewavas, A. (2002). "Malthus foiled again and again". Nature 418 (6898): 668–670. doi:10.1038/nature01013. PMID 12167872. 
• Trewavas, A. J. (2001). "The Population/Biodiversity Paradox. Agricultural Efficiency to Save Wilderness". Plant Physiology 125 (1): 174–179. doi:10.1104/pp.125.1.174. PMC 1539356. PMID 11154326. 
• Trewavas, A. (2001). "Urban myths of organic farming". Nature 410 (6827): 409–410. doi:10.1038/35068639. PMID 11260685. 
• Knight, M. R.; Campbell, A. K.; Smith, S. M.; Trewavas, A. J. (1991). "Transgenic plant aequorin reports the effects of touch and cold-shock and elicitors on cytoplasmic calcium". Nature 352 (6335): 524–526. doi:10.1038/352524a0. PMID 1865907. 
• Knight, H.; Trewavas, A.; Knight, M. (1996). "Cold Calcium Signaling in Arabidopsis Involves Two Cellular Pools and a Change in Calcium Signature after Acclimation". The Plant Cell Online 8 (3): 489–503. doi:10.1105/tpc.8.3.489. PMC 161115. PMID 8721751. 

References