News

The world’s tallest tropical trees have no trouble pumping water to their topmost branches, new research reveals.  Conventional scientific theory suggests that as trees grow, it becomes harder to transport water from roots to leaves – limiting growth and making trees more vulnerable to drought.  But the new study – involving Professor David Coomes,…

Dr Jennifer McGaley explains how her 56-hour marathon at the microscope has opened up the mysterious life of fungi with the first-ever time-lapse of the symbiosis between plants and beneficial soil fungi.What if one organism could copy itself, merge with others, and weave vast living networks through its environment? These abilities may seem alien,…

Plants must carefully strike a balance between harvesting sunlight to fuel photosynthesis and protecting themselves from light damage. Part of this balancing act is performed by antenna proteins that are bound to light-harvesting molecules inside plant chloroplasts. Mostly known for harvesting energy from sunlight, some antenna proteins can dissipa…

Candidates who are considering applying for the 2027 Royal Society Fellowship schemes and would like to host their Fellowships in the Department of Plant Sciences are asked to submit their CV, draft research outline and covering letter to researchfellows@plantsci.cam.ac.uk by 10 July 2026. We aim to support those candidates that have exceptional tr…

After a forty-year hiatus, the Department of Plant Sciences is delighted to announce the official relaunch of the Tea Phytologist, our historic student-led satirical spoof journal.Originally founded in 1908, the Tea Phytologist was a fun and subversive counterpoint to the more serious botanical publications of the time. The name is a parody of alum…

Breakthrough imaging and genomic mapping in rice roots show that the vital structures of nutrient exchange in plant-fungi interactions are far more dynamic and diverse than previously believed – challenging 50 years of agricultural assumptions.Researchers at the Crop Science Centre (CSC), part of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University o…

Professor Uta Paszkowski, Director of the Crop Science Centre and Head of the Cereal Symbiosis group at the Department of Plant Sciences, has been named as a 2026 Top Agri-food Pioneer by the World Food Prize Foundation.The Top Agri-food Pioneers (TAP) initiative recognises global innovators who are advancing agriculture and food systems through sc…

A systematic global analysis has revealed that more than half of the world’s tree species – some 26,096 distinct types – have been introduced to regions outside their natural habitats. The research, published in the journal Current Biology today, provides the first comprehensive checklist and mapping of global tree flows, drawing on a massive datas…

We are delighted to share that His Majesty King Charles III has confirmed Professor Sir David Baulcombe as the next Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Professor Baulcombe will succeed Professor Dame Sally Davies when she steps down later this year.Professor Baulcombe is the Regius Professor of Botany Emeritus at the Department of Plant Sciences,…

Altering livestock grazing could allow soils to store billions more tonnes of carbon each year, depending on the region. However, net climate benefits depend heavily on the source of supplementary feed.A new Cambridge-led study offers the most comprehensive assessment to date of how altering livestock grazing practices across the world’s rangelands…

Researchers from the Department of Plant Sciences are set to play a key role in a new European consortium to build the first platform capable of coordinating Europe's response to devastating agricultural and forest pest invasions.Each year, plant pests destroy up to 40% of agricultural yields worldwide and threaten to devastate forest ecosystems, y…

Mangrove forests, once considered one of the world’s most threatened coastal ecosystems, are showing signs of recovery worldwide, according to new research that finds decades of losses largely offset by regrowth and expansion. The study, based on four decades of satellite data, finds that mangrove forests worldwide are no longer in net decline and …

Industrial-scale mining in Africa to support global supply chains is leading to unprecedented deforestation across the continent, with 34 hectares of forest removed for every hectare of active mine site.A study involving the University of Cambridge has found that 187,000 hectares of forest were lost to mining activity in Africa between 2001 and 202…

We are delighted to announce that Professor Uta Paszkowski has been appointed to the Russell R. Geiger Chair in Crop Science, a prestigious academic chair within the Department of Plant Sciences that serves as a cornerstone for cutting-edge agricultural research, sustainability and global food security. As part of this role, Professor Paszkowski fo…

In this series we talk to Cambridge scientists working with industry, business, NGO and other partners using cutting-edge research to help solve real-world problems.Lottie Apsey is a Plant Sciences PhD student at the University of Cambridge, working with the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO) to explore the role of wildflower margi…