Professor Julian Hibberd

Julian is Professor of Photosynthesis and Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He became interested in plant biology as an undergraduate at Bangor University, and stayed there for a PhD, before moving to Sheffield and then Cambridge for post-doctoral work. He was awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship and has since stayed in Cambridge. He has been part of international consortia that aim to improve photosynthesis in crops to improve yield potential. His work has been funded by the BBSRC, BMGF, EU and ERC.

Julian’s research focuses on the molecular basis and evolution of C4 photosynthesis, a remarkably complex trait that has evolved in over sixty lineages of land plants. As well as using C4 species to understand the molecular basis of the C4 pathway, he also makes use of C3 models such as Arabidopsis and rice to understand how C4 evolved, and the extent to which rewiring of existing regulatory networks has taken place.