乐播传媒

Contact

• workRoom B224 South Lab
  Sutton Bonington Campus
  Sutton Bonington
  Leicestershire
  LE12 5RD
  UK
• Alexandra.Gibbs@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

ORCID ID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1621-6821, FHEA, Associate Supervisor UKCGE

2023 - Present | Assistant Professor of Agriculture and the Environment, 乐播传媒

2020 - 2023 | Leverhulme Early Career Researching Fellow, 乐播传媒

2018 - 2020 | Postdoctoral Researcher, 乐播传媒

2016 - 2018 | Postdoctoral Researcher, Queen Mary University of London

2013 - 2016 | PhD, 乐播传媒

2010 - 2013 | BA in Biological Sciences, University of Oxford

Expertise Summary

I study photosynthesis at the whole canopy level in crop plants. I am particularly interested in how architectural properties of plants determine light interception and use. I use methods such as 3-dimensional reconstruction and mathematical modelling to determine how different structural traits influence productivity. This is important because the quantity and colour (spectral composition) of light will determine how much yield a crop can produce, thus providing a route to food security. I am also interested in the use of alternative cropping practices to improve yield production- including agroforestry systems and intercropping, the cultivation of two or more crops simultaneously.

2025- Researcher Academy Faculty Lead- Science

2022- Resilient Leaders Elements Accredited Consultant

2022 - Plant Physiology Assistant Features Editor

2021 - School of Biosciences Research Champion

Teaching Summary

I convene the following modules:

Regenerative Agriculture

AgriTech and Innovation

I also serve as the Final year research project coordinator for the Agriculture degrees

I also contribute to the following modules

Environmental Plant Physiology

Plants and the Light Environment

Forest Ecology and Management

Ecosystem Processes

Climate Change Science

Research and Professional Skills

Essential Study Skills

Research Summary

Current Lab members

Dr Jonathon Gibbs, Post doc, 2022 -

Dr Kate Lewis, Post doc, 2026 -

Maja Hrynowiecka, MRes Candidate, 2025-

Faisal Aldinyawi, Phd candidate, 2026 -

Brandon Hastings, PhD Candidate, 2025 -

Alonso Carbajal Friedrich, PhD Candidate, 2025 -

Haryati Binti Mansor, PhD Candidate (based UNMC), 2025 -

Yarrow Beckman, PhD Candidate, 2024 -

Previous Lab Members

Olivia Clapp, MRes, 2025 - 2026

Awards and Grants

UKRI AIBIO Pilot Funding R2, September 2026 - March 2027

• Form-to-Function: A Cross-Kingdom Framework for Biological AI

Claas Stiftung Agricultural Foundation award, August 2026 - August 2027

• Crop canopy biomechanics and light interception under heat stress

BBSRC Internal Partnership in the AI for Biosciences, February 2024 - August 2025

• H2YOLO: plant water status from cellular to whole plant level

UKRI: Molecules to Landscapes, June 2022 - June 2024

• Cells to Fields: crop movement characterisation across scales of order

Royal Society Research Grants, January 2022

• H₂rObo: A semi-autonomous pipeline for the quantification of plant water use efficiency

Rank Prize Nutrition New Lecturer award, November 2021

• PlanNet: Plant Networks for improving crop productivity in response to climate change

Gatsby Grant for Exceptional Researchers, December 2020

• CropRay: A new improved ray tracer for analysing canopy light characteristics

Selected Publications

• HESSEL, VOLKER, LIANG, SHU, TRAN, NAM NGHIEP, ESCRIBA-GELONCH, MARC, ZECKOVIC, OLIVIA, KNOWLING, MATTHEW, REBROV, EVGENY, THIS, HERVE, WESTRA, SETH, FISK, IAN, GILLIHAM, MATTHEW and BURGESS, ALEXANDRA, 2022. FRONTIERS IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCES. 9,
• DURAND, MAXIME, STANGL, ZSOFIA R, SALMON, YANN, BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J, MURCHIE, ERIK H and MATTHEW ROBSON, T, 2022. Sunflecks in the upper canopy: dynamics of light-use efficiency in sun and shade leaves of Fagus sylvatica. The New phytologist.
• ALEXANDRA JACQUELYN BURGESS, MARIA EUGENIA CORREA CANO and BEN PARKES, 2022. Crop and Environment.
• ERIK H. MURCHIE and ALEXANDRA J. BURGESS, 2022. Crop and Environment. 1(1), 74-85

• View all publications

Past Research

Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, 乐播传媒, September 2020 - August 2023

• ArchiCrop: Casting light on the architecture of crop yield

Crop yields are stagnating in many regions and whilst it is known that light is the key determinant of productivity, it is poorly understood. Project ArchiCrop will use a combination of biological experiments, image analysis and mathematical modelling to quantify how the structure (architecture) of a plant determines spatial and temporal differences in the quantity and composition of light and how this subsequently affects photosynthesis. I will use future climate change scenarios to determine how future weather patterns will influence productivity. I will also determine how farmer preference influences decisions regarding crop breeding and how the shape of architecture has changed.

Postdoctoral Researcher, Plant & Crop Science, 乐播传媒 March 2018 - August 2020

• CropBooster-P: Future-proofing our plants. EU Horizon 2020 funded. Part of a consortium to identify and prioritise targets for improving the yield production of Europe's crop plants.
• The 4-dimensional plant: Enhanced mechanical canopy excitation for improved crop performance. BBSRC funded. Determine the effect of wind-induced movement on light patterning within crop canopies and subsequent response of photosynthesis.

Postdoctoral Researcher, SBCS, Queen Mary University of London October 2016 - February 2018

• Novel methodology for quantitative assessment of the capacity for photoprotection in photosynthetic organisms. BBSRC funded. To use biochemical and biospectroscopic approaches to determine how components of the photosynthetic membrane determine the physiological processing of light.

PhD in Biosciences, 乐播传媒 September 2013 - September 2016

• The variable light environment within complex 3D crop canopies. Fully funded scholarship by Crops For the Future and the School of Biosciences, 乐播传媒. A combination of plant physiology, 3-dimensional reconstruction and empirical mathematical modelling was used to determine how structural properties of plants determine the quantity of light reaching leaves and the subsequent response of photosynthesis for a range of crops.

• DURAND, MAXIME, GIBBS, JONATHON A., MURCHIE, ERIK H., ROBSON, T. MATTHEW and GIBBS, ALEXANDRA J., 2026. New Phytologist. 250(2), 934-948
• DENNIS, DAISY J. and GIBBS, ALEXANDRA J. J., 2025. Frontiers in Bee Science. Volume 3 - 2025,
• GIBBS, JONATHON A and GIBBS, ALEXANDRA J, 2025. in silico Plants. 7(1), diaf002
• GIBBS, JONATHON A and BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J, 2024. Journal of Experimental Botany. 75(21), 6704-6718
• ALEXANDRA J. BURGESS, RAIHANNAH PRANGGONO, MARC ESCRIB脌-GELONCH and VOLKER HESSEL, 2024. Future Foods. 9, 100317
• CARBAJAL-FRIEDRICH, ALONSO A. J. and BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., 2024. Frontiers in Plant Physiology. Volume 2 - 2024,
• LIANG, SHU, RIVERA-OSORIO, KAROLINA, BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., KUMSSA, DIRIBA B., ESCRIBA虁-GELONCH, MARC, FISK, IAN, KNOWLING, MATTHEW, STEKEL, DOV and HESSEL, VOLKER, 2023. ACS Food Science & Technology. 4(1), 104-117
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., RETKUTE, RENATA and MURCHIE, ERIK H., 2023. Frontiers in Plant Science. Volume 14 - 2023,
• MUBARAK, A.N.M., BURGESS, A.J., PYKE, K., QUICK, W.P. and MURCHIE, E.H., 2023. Frontiers in Plant Science. Volume 14 - 2023,
• MAI TRINH PHUONG NGUYEN, MATTHEW KNOWLING, NAM N. TRAN, ALEXANDRA BURGESS, IAN FISK, MICHELLE WATT, MARC ESCRIB脌-GELONCH, HERVE THIS, JOHN CULTON and VOLKER HESSEL, 2023. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 194, 708-721
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., MASCLAUX-DAUBRESSE, C脡LINE, STRITTMATTER, G脺NTER, WEBER, ANDREAS P. M., TAYLOR, SAMUEL HARRY, HARBINSON, JEREMY, YIN, XINYOU, LONG, STEPHEN, PAUL, MATTHEW J., WESTHOFF, PETER, LORETO, FRANCESCO, CERIOTTI, ALDO, SALTENIS, VANDASUE L. R., PRIBIL, MATHIAS, NACRY, PHILIPPE, SCHARFF, LARS B., JENSEN, POUL ERIK, MULLER, BERTRAND, COHAN, JEAN-PIERRE, FOULKES, JOHN, ROGOWSKY, PETER, DEBAEKE, PHILIPPE, MEYER, CHRISTIAN, NELISSEN, HILDE, INZ脡, DIRK, KLEIN LANKHORST, REN脡, PARRY, MARTIN A. J., MURCHIE, ERIK H. and BAEKELANDT, ALEXANDRA, 2023. Food and Energy Security. 12(1), e435
• ERIK H. MURCHIE, LORNA MCAUSLAND and ALEXANDRA J. BURGESS, 2022. . In: ALEXANDER RUBAN, CHRISTINE H. FOYER and ERIK H. MURCHIE, eds., Photosynthesis in Action Academic Press. 103-132
• DURAND, MAXIME, STANGL, ZSOFIA R, SALMON, YANN, BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J, MURCHIE, ERIK H and MATTHEW ROBSON, T, 2022. Sunflecks in the upper canopy: dynamics of light-use efficiency in sun and shade leaves of Fagus sylvatica. The New phytologist.
• ALEXANDRA JACQUELYN BURGESS, MARIA EUGENIA CORREA CANO and BEN PARKES, 2022. Crop and Environment.
• ERIK H. MURCHIE and ALEXANDRA J. BURGESS, 2022. Crop and Environment. 1(1), 74-85
• HESSEL, VOLKER, LIANG, SHU, TRAN, NAM NGHIEP, ESCRIBA-GELONCH, MARC, ZECKOVIC, OLIVIA, KNOWLING, MATTHEW, REBROV, EVGENY, THIS, HERVE, WESTRA, SETH, FISK, IAN, GILLIHAM, MATTHEW and BURGESS, ALEXANDRA, 2022. FRONTIERS IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCES. 9,
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J. and MAJDA, MATEUSZ, 2022. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY.
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J and MAJDA, MATEUSZ, 2022. Pieces of the 3D puzzle: identification of genes underlying rice canopy architecture. Plant physiology.
• ALEXANDRA J BURGESS, TIARA HERMAN, ASGAR ALI*, ERIK MURCHIE, 2021. in silico Plants. 3(1), 1-15
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., DURAND, MAXIME, GIBBS, JONATHON A., RETKUTE, RENATA, ROBSON, T. MATTHEW and MURCHIE, ERIK H., 2021. PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT. 44(11), 3524-3537
• GIBBS, JONATHON A., MCAUSLAND, LORNA, ROBLES-ZAZUETA, CARLOS A., MURCHIE, ERIK H. and BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., 2021. Frontiers in Plant Science. 12,
• SCHARFF, LARS B., SALTENIS, VANDASUE L. R., JENSEN, POUL ERIK, BAEKELANDT, ALEXANDRA, BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., BUROW, MEIKE, CERIOTTI, ALDO, COHAN, JEAN-PIERRE, GEU-FLORES, FERNANDO, HALKIER, BARBARA ANN, HASLAM, RICHARD P., INZ脡, DIRK, KLEIN LANKHORST, REN脡, MURCHIE, ERIK H., NAPIER, JOHNATHAN A., NACRY, PHILIPPE, PARRY, MARTIN A. J., SANTINO, ANGELO, SCARANO, AURELIA, SPARVOLI, FRANCESCA, WILHELM, RALF and PRIBIL, MATHIAS, 2021. Food and Energy Security. n/a(n/a), e327
• MAXIME DURAND, BAIBA MATULE, ALEXANDRA J. BURGESS and T. MATTHEW ROBSON, 2021. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 308-309, 108554
• FOO, CHUAN CHING, BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J, RETKUTE, RENATA, TREE-INTONG, PRACHA, RUBAN, ALEXANDER V and MURCHIE, ERIK H, 2020. Journal of Experimental Botany. 71(22), 7382-7392
• GIBBS, JONATHON A., BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., POUND, MICHAEL P., PRIDMORE, TONY P. and MURCHIE, ERIK H., 2019. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY. 181(1), 28-42
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., GIBBS, JONATHON A. and MURCHIE, ERIK H., 2019. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY. 70(9), 2371-2380
• GIBBS, JONATHON A., BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., POUND, MICHAEL P., PRIDMORE, TONY P. and MURCHIE, ERIK H., 2019. 181, 28-42
• RETKUTE, R., TOWNSEND, A. J., MURCHIE, E. H., JENSEN, O. E. and PRESTON, S. P., 2018. Annals of Botany. 122(2), 291-302
• TOWNSEND, ALEXANDRA J., RETKUTE, RENATA, CHINNATHAMBI, KANNAN, RANDALL, JAMIE W. P., FOULKES, JOHN, CARMO-SILVA, ELIZABETE and MURCHIEA, ERIK H., 2018. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY. 176(2), 1233-1246
• ALEXANDRA J. TOWNSEND, FRANCESCO SACCON, VASCO GIOVAGNETTI, SAM WILSON, PETRA UNGERER and ALEXANDER V. RUBAN, 2018. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Bioenergetics. 1859(9), 666 - 675
• PLUMB, WILLIAM, TOWNSEND, ALEXANDRA J, RASOOL, BRWA, ALOMRANI, SARAH, RAZAK, NURHAYATI, KARPINSKA, BARBARA, RUBAN, ALEXANDER V and FOYER, CHRISTINE H, 2018. Journal of Experimental Botany. 69(11), 2823-2835
• TOWNSEND, ALEXANDRA J., WARE, MAXWELL A. and RUBAN, ALEXANDER V., 2018. Plant, Cell & Environment. 41(5), 1098-1112
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., RETKUTE, RENATA, POUND, MICHAEL P., MAYES, SEAN and MURCHIE, ERIK H., 2017. Annals of Botany. mcw242
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., RETKUTE, RENATA, HERMAN, TIARA and MURCHIE, ERIK H., 2017. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE. 8,
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J, RETKUTE, RENATA, POUND, MICHAEL P, MAYES, SEAN and MURCHIE, ERIK H, 2017. Annals of botany. 119(4), 517-532
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J., RETKUTE, RENATA, PRESTON, SIMON P., JENSEN, OLIVER E., POUND, MICHAEL P., PRIDMORE, TONY P. and MURCHIE, ERIK H., 2016. Frontiers in Plant Science. 7, 1392
• POUND, MICHAEL P, BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J, WILSON, MICHAEL H, ATKINSON, JONATHAN A, GRIFFITHS, MARCUS, JACKSON, AARON S, BULAT, ADRIAN, TZIMIROPOULOS, GEORGIOS, WELLS, DARREN M, MURCHIE, ERIK H, PRIDMORE, TONY P and FRENCH, ANDREW P, 2016. Deep Machine Learning provides state-of-the-art performance in image-based plant phenotyping bioRxiv.
• BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J, RETKUTE, RENATA, PRESTON, SIMON P, JENSEN, OLIVER E, POUND, MICHAEL P, PRIDMORE, TONY P and MURCHIE, ERIK H, 2016. Frontiers in Plant Science. 7,
• POUND, MICHAEL P, ATKINSON, JONATHAN A, BURGESS, ALEXANDRA J, WILSON, MICHAEL H, GRIFFITHS, MARCUS, JACKSON, AARON S, BULAT, ADRIAN, TZIMIROPOULOS, GEORGIOS, WELLS, DARREN M, MURCHIE, ERIK H, PRIDMORE, TONY P and FRENCH, ANDREW P, 2016. GigaDB.
• RETKUTE, R., SMITH-UNNA, S., SMITH, R.W., BURGESS, A.J., JENSEN, O.E., JOHNSON, G.N., PRESTON, S.P. and MURCHIE, E.H., 2015. Journal of Experimental Botany.
• BURGESS AJ, RETKUTE R, POUND MP, FOULKES J, PRESTON SP, JENSEN OE, PRIDMORE TP and MURCHIE EH, 2015. Plant physiology. 169(2), 1192-204