Professor Andy Meharg
Chair of Plant Science
Postal Address:
Institute of Agri-Food & Land Use
Queen's University Belfast
David Keir Building
Stranmillis Road
Belfast BT9 5AG
Room: N. I. Technology Centre, 02.009
Telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 5413
Fax: +44 (0)28 9097 6513
Email: aa.meharg@qub.ac.uk
Research Profile
My primary research interest is investigating how plants adapt to survive to extreme conditions, primarily metal(loid) contaminated soils & flooded (paddy) environments, with the ultimate aim of improving our understanding of plant mineral nutrition. The approach is to use state-of-the-art metal(loid) speciation (HPLC-ICP-MS-ESI-MS & synchrotron based techniques), combined with ecology (natural selection) & genetics (genome sequencing, QTL, association mapping, Mendelian segregation), to identify mechanisms involved in essential and toxic element adaptation. Furthermore, this research is placed in a holistic setting, both with respect to how plants interact with soil biogeochemical cycles &, also, the consequences of elevated pollutants, or depletion of nutrients, for plant consumers, including humans.
