Ben now holds a position as Senior Lecturer in Molecular Plant Biology at the University of Newcastle.

Ben is a synthetic biologist with a PhD in Plant Biology from La Trobe University. His doctoral work focussed on environmental factors which lead to toxin production in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), and he has significant postdoctoral experience in areas relating to secondary metabolite production in streptomycetes (University of Surrey), cyanobacterial CO₂ concentrating mechanisms, and plant cell respiration (Australian Nationa University). His current research focus involves synthetic biology approaches to building a CO₂ concentrating mechanism in plant chloroplasts for the enhancement of photosynthesis as part of the Realizing Increased Photosynthesis Efficiency (RIPE) network funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, and UKaid.

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