PI
Dr. Ronan Sulpice
Dr Ronan Sulpice is a Lecturer in the School of Natural Sciences at NUI Galway (Ireland) since 2012 and is a visiting professor at the University of Vicosa (Brazil) since 2014. He obtained his PhD from the University of Rennes (France) in 2000. This was followed by Researcher positions at the National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB, Japan), the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPIMP, Germany). Dr Sulpice interests focus at elucidating in photosynthetic organisms the cross talk between primary metabolism and growth, with special emphasis at how the environment modulate them.
Postdocs
Dr Jose M. Fariñas-Franco
GenialG Project
Dr Jose M. Fariñas-Franco is a marine benthic ecologist, taxonomist and scientific diver with more than 15 years’ experience working in industry and academia. His main research interests are the biodiversity of marine benthic communities, especially the role of keystone species and the conservation and ecological restoration of marine habitats. As a postdoctoral researcher within the GENIALG project, Jose is studying the effects of cultivated algae (e.g. the sugar kelp Saccharina latissima) and associated growing structures in coastal ecosystems, focusing on their interaction with local biodiversity and faunal community assemblages. Jose is also an adjunct lecturer in Zoology at the Ryan Institute, NUI Galway.
JOSEMARIA.FARINASFRANCO@nuigalway.ie
Dr. Antoine Fort
GenialG Project
Antoine originally worked on plant improvement in the model species Arabidopsis thaliana, by using whole genome duplications and their associated growth, genetic and epigenetic responses. In Sulpice’s lab, Antoine specialises in green and brown algae growth monitoring and performance assessment, through the use of custom-made phenotyping platforms. Antoine aims to characterise the effect(s) of the genetic diversity of green and brown algae on growth and metabolism.
Dr. Masami Inaba
Vicci Project
Identification of markers responsible of the adaptation of ryegrass varieties to cold and nutrient deficiency
Dr. Marcus McHale
BreedCafs Project
Ph.D Students
Kallyne Ambrósio Barros
Regulation of barley growth in response to environmental factors
Kallyne holds a CNPq fellowship, Science Without Borders programme from Brazil. She graduated in Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Minas Gerais, Brazil; where she also got MSc. in Plant Physiology. She worked on plant anatomy, alternative mitochondrial metabolism, and the role of organic acids in stomatal movements. In Sulpice lab, she is working on the primary metabolism of barley plants grown under different stresses.
Ruth Maggeni
Use of photosynthetic organisms for wastewater treatment
Ruth obtained her B.Sc. in Marine Sciences from the School of Marine Sciences, Ruppin Academic Centre in Israel. She later completed a Research Masters in Biochemistry from NUI Galway where she investigated the role of the blastema in head regeneration in Hydractinia. In the Sulpice and Lens lab she aims to explore the use of Ulva and Duckweed for bioremediation, in addition to elucidating pathways for N and P assimilation by Ulva.
Msc Students
Undergraduate Students
Visiting Students
Past lab members
Dr. Alberto Abrantes Esteves Ferreira
Growth and metabolism in cyanobacteria
Alberto graduated in Biological Sciences at the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Minas Gerais, Brazil; where he also got his MSc. in Plant Physiology. Currently, he holds a CAPES/Science Without Borders PhD fellowship and works on the ecophysiology and metabolism of cyanobacteria, seeking to identify the growth limiting factors of these microorganisms and improve their production of biomass and bioproducts. Alberto obtained his Ph.D in February 2018.
Dr Xiaozhen Han
Past Undergraduate Students
- Eoin Dunne
- Daniel Durkin
- Catherine Rooney
- James Noonan
- Morgane Lebrault (2nd year ENSAIA, University of Lorraine, France)
- Margot Allaire (2nd year Student, University of Le Mans, France)
