Michelle Watt

University of Melbourne
 
Professor Michelle Watt holds the Adrienne Clarke Chair of Botany at the University of Melbourne, and is the President of the International Society of Root Research. 

Michelle’s expertise in whole plant physiology will support Plants for Space through her work towards ‘pick & eat’ plants for program 1, to re-engineer root systems for regeneration and successive strategic harvesting of crops long-term. Her previous positions as a Director of the Plant Sciences Institute at the Helmholtz Centre, Forschungszentrum Juelich, Professor of Crop Root Physiology at the University of Bonn, as well as researcher at CSIRO in Australia researching root-rhizosphere processes, have culminated to her perfect appointment within Plants for Space as University of Melbourne lead – ensuring world-class research combined with high-level coordination across the Australian nodes and international partners. 

“I could not go to Space without a picture of my daughter”