Emma Barnett

I fled the bright lights and organised chaos of the film and television industry – where I worked as a production assistant – in search of more meaningful and fulfilling work. Driven by an interest in climate change and sustainability, I dived head-first into a Bachelor of Science at Monash University and when I came up for air I had completed an Honours thesis on the conservation genetics of an endangered grassland daisy. My undergraduate studies illuminated a different way of seeing the natural world, thus my current interests are broadly: plant evolution, adaptive capacity and plant evolutionary histories. I am fascinated by plant diversity and the variety of strategies they have evolved; to survive in the most hostile and seemingly barren environments, to find mates (with limited motility) and to communicate with surrounding biota through chemical signals and fungal networks. I hope to support and contribute to work that increases our knowledge about plant evolution, not only because it's interesting but because of its importance in understanding plant responses to changing environments. ​

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