Triin Vahisalu (born October 4, 1978) is an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. She studies the effects of stress on plants and discovered a gene that regulates stomata in harsh environments.

Education

Vahisalu attended the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

for her undergraduate degree in biology between 1997 and 2004 and stayed on until 2005 for her master's. Vahisalu completed her doctorate in plant biology at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

, though her research was in collaboration with the University of Tartu. In 2011, she received a fellowship from the

L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards The L'Oréal-UNESCO ''For Women in Science'' International Awards, created in 1998, aim to improve the position of women in science by recognizing outstanding women researchers who have contributed to scientific progress. The awards are a resu ...

which supported her research outside Estonia. She was the first winner from the

Baltic States The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

Career and research

Vahisalu's primary research interests are the effects of varying environmental conditions on crops. She has investigated how plant

stomata In botany, a stoma (: stomata, from Greek ''στόμα'', "mouth"), also called a stomate (: stomates), is a pore found in the epidermis of leaves, stems, and other organs, that controls the rate of gas exchange between the internal air spa ...

open and close in drought conditions or under exposure to ozone. When under stress, plants close their stomata to limit exposure to the surrounding atmosphere. She has identified a gene and an associated protein responsible for stoma regulation in

Arabidopsis ''Arabidopsis'' (rockcress) is a genus in the family Brassicaceae. They are small flowering plants related to cabbage and mustard. This genus is of great interest since it contains thale cress (''Arabidopsis thaliana''), one of the model organ ...

plants. This was achieved by comparing different mutations with varying sensitivity to ozone. Her work could lead to the development of plants that are more resilient in harsh environments. An article about this discovery was published in the high-profile journal

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

. Vahisalu continues to work at the Universities of Tartu and Helsinki as a post-doctoral fellow. In 2019, she was involved in a conference called "Plants in a Changing World".

Awards and honours

* 2011 Fellow from L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science. She was praised by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves for her contributions to science on the occasion of her receiving this award. *2011 Best Doctoral Thesis at the University of Tartu. *2010 Estonian National Research Award.

Personal life

Vahisalu is married and has a child.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vahisalu, Triin 21st-century Estonian women scientists 21st-century Estonian botanists Estonian women botanists University of Helsinki alumni University of Tartu alumni 1978 births Living people