Anna Amtmann is a German scientist. She is professor for Molecular Plant Physiology at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal '' Plant, Cell & Environment''.

Early life and education

Amtmann studied languages, mathematics and biology at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

and

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

. She was an Erasmus Programme student at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

. Amtmann completed her graduate degrees in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

in the laboratory of Dietrich Gradmann at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

. Her doctoral research involved the use of

electrophysiology Electrophysiology (from ee the Electron#Etymology, etymology of "electron" ; and ) is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of biological cell (biology), cells and tissues. It involves measurements of voltage change ...

to study unicellular marine algae, in an effort to understand how they maintain

homeostasis In biology, homeostasis (British English, British also homoeostasis; ) is the state of steady internal physics, physical and chemistry, chemical conditions maintained by organism, living systems. This is the condition of optimal functioning fo ...

for calcium and sodium ions.

Research and career

In 1993, after earning her PhD, Amtmann investigated ion transport properties in barley in Dale Sanders' laboratory at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

. Whilst at York she developed microarrays that could be used to monitor how ion transporters responded to nutrient deficiency and salinity. Amtmann was appointed a lecturer at the

in 2001 and was promoted to Professor in 2014. She spent 2007 on sabbatical at the

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology The Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology () is a German research institute for Molecule, molecular plant physiology, based in the Golm (Potsdam), Golm district of Potsdam, Brandenburg. Founded on 1 January 1994,Staff (undated"Hist ...

in Golm. Her research considers the mechanisms by which plants adapt to nutrient deficiency, drought and salinity. She has explored how solar-powered microorganisms could be used to extra salt from seawater. Amtmann's research has been supported by the

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds science, scient ...

. She is a co-director of ''Algae UK'', one of six Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (NIBBs) that look to support the UK's transition to a low carbon economy. Algae UK looks to increase research and development into high value products created from

microalgae Microalgae or microphytes are microscopic scale, microscopic algae invisible to the naked eye. They are phytoplankton typically found in freshwater and marine life, marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment. They are unicellul ...

and

macroalgae Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of Macroscopic scale, macroscopic, Multicellular organism, multicellular, ocean, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Brown algae, Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ...

, as well as increasing attention to cyanobacterial synthetic biology.

Selected publications

* * * Amtmann is the editor-in-chief of '' Plant, Cell & Environment''.

Personal life

Amtmann is married to Pawel Herzyk, who she met during her first postdoctoral position at the

. Together they have twin boys.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amtmann, Anna Living people Year of birth missing (living people) German expatriates in France German expatriates in the United Kingdom German expatriates in Spain University of Paris alumni Heidelberg University alumni Academics of the University of Glasgow Biologists of the University of York University of Göttingen alumni German academic journal editors German phycologists Biotechnologists Women phycologists Women biotechnologists