DoctorFrances Sussmilch

Dr Frances Sussmilch is a molecular biologist in Biological Sciences within the School of Natural Sciences. Her research focusses on investigating the genes that control stomatal responses and their evolution.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Biotechnology at UTAS, Frances completed Honours and a PhD with Associate Professor Jim Weller’s group investigating the genes controlling inflorescence development in garden pea. She continued as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in legume flowering, before shifting research focus to investigate the evolution of genes controlling stomatal movements in land plants with Dr Scott McAdam and Professor Tim Brodribb. In 2017, she was awarded a Short-Term Postdoctoral Research Grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to complete a research project at the Julius-von-Sachs Institute for Biosciences at the University of Würzburg (Germany), and continued working at the Institute until 2020 as a postdoc in the groups of Professors Rainer Hedrich and Dietmar Geiger, investigating the evolution of guard cell ion channels and signalling pathways. Frances secured an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) to return to UTAS in 2020 to investigate the genes that control rapid biosynthesis of the plant stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA) in response to low humidity. Frances is currently lead CI on an ARC Discovery Project investigating the evolution of stomatal opening responses and is associated with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture.