Sharon Robinson
Sharon Robinson at Casey Station
Born1961
NationalityBritain
Alma materUniversity College London
Known forAntarctic ecology
Climate change
Scientific career
FieldsPlant Ecophysiology
Bryology
Global Change Biology
InstitutionsUniversity of Wollongong
Websitewww.professarobinson.com

Sharon Anita Robinson AM is an Antarctic researcher known for her work on climate change and bryophytes.

She is deputy-director of science implementation and UOW node lead of the Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future program, a special research initiative on excellence in antarctic science from the Australian Research Council, awarded $36 million over a seven year period (2021-2028).[1][2][3] She is also the dean of researcher development and integrity (2022-2023) at the University of Wollongong.[4]

Robinson is a science facilitator for the Homeward Bound project, a leadership program for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).[5] She was a faculty member for the HB3 (2018-2019) and HB5 (2020-2021) programs, as well as the Island Sky voyage 2023.[5][6]

Early life and education

Robinson was born in London but lived in Cornwall from age 6 to 19. She attended Helston Community College in West Cornwall and Budehaven Community School on the North Coast of Cornwall. She moved back to London to study Genetics & Botany at University College London (UCL) and graduated in 1983.[7] She then worked for two years in student politics, first at UCL as a sabbatical officer and president of the union (UCLU) concerned with student education and welfare, and then as an executive officer of the National Union of Students.

In 1986 she completed a Graduate Certificate in Science Education at King's College London[7] and taught science at Hampstead School, London for a year. She then returned to UCL in 1987 to start a PhD with Professor George Stewart, "Nitrogen metabolism in carrot cell cultures" which she completed in 1990.[7]

Career and impact

After graduating, she held postdoctoral positions at Duke University in the US (1991) and the School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra (1992-1995).

Robinson was made the inaugural lecturer in plant physiology at the University of Wollongong in 1996, and became a Senior Professor in 2016. She is a plant ecophysiologist and climate change biologist.[7] Her research examines how plants respond to climate change with an integrated systems approach using molecular to ecological techniques. Throughout her career she has pioneered novel techniques to investigate metabolic processes in vivo and has expertise in plant nitrogen metabolism, respiration, photosynthesis and photoprotective mechanisms (both for visible[8] and ultraviolet (UV) radiation).[9] An early career highlights was demonstrating a role for the enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase in nitrogen mobilisation.[10] Some of her most impactful work has been in developing on-line mass spectrometry methods to measure the pathways that contribute to plant respiration, which has enabled assessment of plant stress physiology and thermoregulation.[11][12][13]

Robinson established the first long-term monitoring of Antarctic vegetation in 2000. Her findings since then have shown that change is occurring in these plant communities at an unprecedented rate, including species shifts in East Antarctic terrestrial communities and declining plant health due to climate change. The research is providing some of the first evidence that climate change and ozone depletion are affecting East Antarctic terrestrial communities.[14]

Robinson has pioneered the use of isotope analysis and other chemical makers for understanding how Antarctic mosses function and how climate change is affecting Antarctic plants.[14][15] Through her research using of radiocarbon bomb spike she has been able to date Antarctic mosses – providing long-term growth records that demonstrate these are “old growth mosses”.[14]

In her research she uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to measure canopy productivity using chlorophyll fluorescence and spectroscopic techniques. She has developed a near-remote sensing technologies to assess and track plant health in Antarctica and elsewhere.[16][17]

Robinson is a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Environmental Effects Assessment Panel,[18] served on the Australian Research Council College of Experts (2013-2017),[7][19] and is an Editor for the journal Global Change Biology and Conservation Physiology.[20] She has written several articles for the public,[21] exhibited Antarctic photography, produced award-winning YouTube video to promote science and presented a TEDx talk.[22][23] She has visited the Antarctic continent and islands more than 12 times and her research has been featured in the UOW 40 years of Research, UOW Women of Impact, and ABC and BBC Science sites.[7][24][25][26][27][28][29] In 2012 she was an invited speaker at the Australian Academy of Science, Mawson Symposium at the Shine Dome in Canberra.[30]

Robinson was the Executive Director of the UOW Global Challenges Program from 2020-2022, and Leader of the Program's Sustaining Coastal and Marine Zones Challenge from 2018-2020 at the University of Wollongong.[7][31]

Awards and honours

Robinson has been awarded several prizes over her career. Most recently, she was awarded the UOW Vice Chancellor's Researcher of the Year award for 2019 and in 2018 she was awarded the Vice Chancellor's Outstanding Achievement in Research Partnership and Impact award. At the start of her research career the Linnean Society of London awarded her the Irene Manton Prize, for the Best UK PhD in Botany, 1991.[32]

She has also been awarded prizes for teaching. The Australian Society of Plant Scientists' awarded Robinson their Teaching Award in 2002.[33] She has also been awarded prizes for her educational videos, including the Chlorotube 1st prize Competition 3 (YouTube In the Heat of the Night) 2010,[22] 2nd prize Competition 1 (YouTube The Science of Cool) 2009.[23]

In 2021 she was shortlisted for the Eureka Prize in the Leadership in Innovation and Science category.[34]

Robinson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours for "significant service to science, particularly the study of Antarctic environmental change".[35]

Selected bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "SR200100005 - Monash University - Grants Data Portal". dataportal.arc.gov.au. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  2. ↑ "Monash University leads $36 million global collaboration to secure Antarctica's future". Monash University. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  3. ↑ "Sharon Robinson". SAEF. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Research and innovation team". University of Wollongong. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Sharon Robinson - Homeward Bound". 11 December 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  6. ↑ "The Island Sky voyage 2023 - Homeward Bound". 23 March 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sharon Robinson - University of Wollongong". scholars.uow.edu.au. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Russell, A. W.; Critchley, C.; Robinson, S. A.; Franklin, L. A.; Seaton, Ggr; Chow, W. S.; Anderson, J. M.; Osmond, C. B. (1 March 1995). "Photosystem II Regulation and Dynamics of the Chloroplast D1 Protein in Arabidopsis Leaves during Photosynthesis and Photoinhibition". Plant Physiology. 107 (3): 943–952. doi:10.1104/pp.107.3.943. ISSN 1532-2548. PMC 157211. PMID 12228414.
  9. ↑ Williamson, Craig E.; Zepp, Richard G.; Lucas, Robyn M.; Madronich, Sasha; Austin, Amy T.; Ballaré, Carlos L.; Norval, Mary; Sulzberger, Barbara; Bais, Alkiviadis F. (2014). "Solar ultraviolet radiation in a changing climate". Nature Climate Change. 4 (6): 434–441. Bibcode:2014NatCC...4..434W. doi:10.1038/nclimate2225. hdl:10818/35562.
  10. ↑ Robinson, Sharon A.; Slade, Annette P.; Fox, Gary G.; Phillips, Richard; Ratcliffe, R. George; Stewart, George R. (1 February 1991). "The Role of Glutamate Dehydrogenase in Plant Nitrogen Metabolism". Plant Physiology. 95 (2): 509–516. doi:10.1104/pp.95.2.509. ISSN 1532-2548. PMC 1077561. PMID 16668014.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Sharon A.; Yakir, Dan; Ribas-Carbo, Miquel; Giles, Larry; Osmond, C. Barry; Siedow, James N.; Berry, Joseph A. (1 November 1992). "Measurements of the Engagement of Cyanide-Resistant Respiration in the Crassulacean Acid Metabolism Plant Kalanchoë daigremontiana with the Use of On-Line Oxygen Isotope Discrimination". Plant Physiology. 100 (3): 1087–1091. doi:10.1104/pp.100.3.1087. ISSN 1532-2548. PMC 1075750. PMID 16653089.
  12. ↑ Ribas-Carbo, M.; Lennon, A. M.; Robinson, S. A.; Giles, L.; Berry, J. A.; Siedow, J. N. (1 March 1997). "The Regulation of Electron Partitioning between the Cytochrome and Alternative Pathways in Soybean Cotyledon and Root Mitochondria". Plant Physiology. 113 (3): 903–911. doi:10.1104/pp.113.3.903. ISSN 1532-2548. PMC 158210. PMID 12223652.
  13. ↑ Watling, Jennifer R.; Robinson, Sharon A.; Seymour, Roger S. (1 April 2006). "Contribution of the Alternative Pathway to Respiration during Thermogenesis in Flowers of the Sacred Lotus". Plant Physiology. 140 (4): 1367–1373. doi:10.1104/pp.105.075523. ISSN 1532-2548. PMC 1435819. PMID 16461386.
  14. 1 2 3 Clarke, Laurence J.; Robinson, Sharon A.; Hua, Quan; Ayre, David J.; Fink, David (1 January 2012). "Radiocarbon bomb spike reveals biological effects of Antarctic climate change". Global Change Biology (Submitted manuscript). 18 (1): 301–310. Bibcode:2012GCBio..18..301C. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02560.x. ISSN 1365-2486. S2CID 85881264.
  15. ↑ Bramley-Alves, Jessica; Wanek, Wolfgang; French, Kristine; Robinson, Sharon A. (1 June 2015). "Moss δ13C: an accurate proxy for past water environments in polar regions". Global Change Biology. 21 (6): 2454–2464. Bibcode:2015GCBio..21.2454B. doi:10.1111/gcb.12848. ISSN 1365-2486. PMID 25545349. S2CID 20003314.
  16. ↑ Lucieer, Arko; Turner, Darren; King, Diana H.; Robinson, Sharon A. (1 April 2014). "Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to capture micro-topography of Antarctic moss beds". International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. Special Issue on Polar Remote Sensing 2013. 27, Part A: 53–62. Bibcode:2014IJAEO..27...53L. doi:10.1016/j.jag.2013.05.011. S2CID 17241109.
  17. ↑ Malenovský, Zbyněk; Turnbull, Johanna D.; Lucieer, Arko; Robinson, Sharon A. (1 October 2015). "Antarctic moss stress assessment based on chlorophyll content and leaf density retrieved from imaging spectroscopy data". New Phytologist. 208 (2): 608–624. doi:10.1111/nph.13524. ISSN 1469-8137. PMID 26083501.
  18. ↑ "List of all Members | OZONE SECRETARIAT". ozone.unep.org. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  19. ↑ "ARC College of Experts". arc.gov.au. Australian Research Council. 2016.
  20. ↑ "Global Change Biology - Editorial Board". Global Change Biology. doi:10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2486.
  21. ↑ Robinson, Sharon. "The ozone hole leaves a lasting impression on southern climate". Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  22. 1 2 Sharon Robinson (18 April 2010), In the Heat of the Night, retrieved 27 June 2016
  23. 1 2 Sharon Robinson (25 September 2009), The Science of Cool 2, retrieved 27 June 2016
  24. ↑ "40 Years of Research Impact". www.uow.edu.au. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  25. ↑ tenille. "Professor Sharon Robinson". magazine.uow.edu.au. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  26. ↑ "Antarctic mosses reveal past climate, react to present changes". Radio National. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  27. ↑ "Ancient poo hosts Antarctic moss". BBC. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  28. ↑ Cooper, Dani (2011). "Atomic bombs help age slow growing moss". abc.net.au. ABC.
  29. ↑ Catchpole, Heather (2005). "Lovely lichens and fruity mosses". abc.net.au. ABC.
  30. ↑ "Science at the Shine Dome". science.org.au. Australian Academy of Science. 2012.
  31. ↑ "Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Solutions". smah.uow.edu.au. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  32. ↑ "The Irene Manton Prize". The Linnean Society. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  33. ↑ "Australian Society of Plant Scientists » ASPS Teaching Award". www.asps.org.au. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  34. ↑ Smith, Kate (2 September 2021). "2021 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes finalists". The Australian Museum. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  35. ↑ "Distinguished Professor Sharon ROBINSON". Australian Honours Search Facility. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
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