FABI has shaped my academic and research career since I first joined the institute as a postgraduate student in 2019. I joined the African Plant Systems Biology for the Bioeconomy (APSB) programme, led by Prof. Eshchar Mizrachi, in 2020, where my research has centered around the molecular and evolutionary basis of plant nutrient acquisition strategies in nutrient-impoverished environments.

My doctoral work investigates the convergent evolution of phosphorus-mining roots in three South African endemic species: Protea cynaroides (eudicot), Elegia tectorum, and Carex oshimensis (monocots). These specialised roots function by exuding organic acids into the soil to release phosphate that is otherwise bound in inaccessible metal complexes. Using transcriptomic analysis and genome assembly, my project aims to uncover the genetic networks involved in the development and function of these roots, and to determine whether distinct plant lineages have recruited similar molecular pathways to achieve the same adaptive outcome.

Previously, in the Forest Molecular Genetics (FMG) research group, also under the supervision of Prof. Eshchar Mizrachi, my research focused on the transcriptomic characterisation of the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterial–cycad symbiosis, an ancient and ecologically significant relationship that allows these endemic gymnosperms to overcome nitrogen limitation.