What motivated you to join the PAPILLONS project?
I am a plant and soil biochemist/toxicologist, thus the important issue of plastics’ effect on plant yield is at the core of my interests. Although we have been assuming that plastics are inert for the environment and also for our health, the newest insights in the field are questioning this assumption. However, potential underlying mechanisms are not well known. Having a mechanism-orientated way of thinking about biological processes I am greatly interested in helping to understand how plastics may influence plant biochemistry and physiology.
How would you describe the task of your Work Package and your role within it?
Working Package 4 provides a holistic view of the effect of plastics on crops. I especially like its multilevel scale. To better understand this issue, we study the effect of plastics in plant cell cultures experiments, via microcosm experiments, ending with field plot experiments. Each experiment involves different partners from European Institutes and Universities. In the experiments, we can pinpoint the most vulnerable endpoint measurements describing the best potential effect of plastics on plants. My role in Work Package 4 is to study physiological and biochemical indicators in plant material exposed to plastics on the scale of cell cultures, microcosms, and field studies. Using state-of-the-art methods from the biochemistry field I help to understand how plastics affect crops’ health. I am also involved in the coordination of lab and field experiments as well as in the development or/and adjustment of biochemical methods if this will be needed.
