Professor Sue Hartley
School of Biosciences
Vice-President for Research


- Profile
-
Career
- Vice-President for Research and Innovation, ϳԹ of Sheffield (2022 – present)
- Vice-President for Research, ϳԹ of Sheffield (2020 – 2022)
- ϳԹ of York Research Champion for Environmental Sustainability and Resilience (2015-2019)
- Director of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute and Professor of Ecology (Band 3) Department of Biology
- ϳԹ of York (2010-2019)
- Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange School of Life Sciences, ϳԹ of Sussex (2009-2010)
- Reader then Professor of Ecology, ϳԹ of Sussex (2001-2010)
- Section Leader (Community Ecology) and Principle Scientific Officer Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Banchory (1996-2000)
- Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Fellowship - Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Banchory Research Station (1993-1996)
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellow - Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Banchory (1990-1993)
- NERC Personal Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship - ϳԹ of York (1987-1990)
- PhD ϳԹ of York (1987)
- BA ϳԹ of Oxford (1984)
- Research interests
-
I am interested in the chemical basis of the interactions between plants and other organisms, how these interactions are affected by environmental factors such as climate change, and how understanding these interactions can support more resilient and sustainable crop production.
My areas of expertise include: plant defences, particularly the role of silicon in crop resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses; plant-soil, plant-herbivore and multi-trophic interactions; the impacts of climate change on crops and their pests; sustainable pest management and food security; agri-environment policy.
- Publications
-
Journal articles
Chapters
Conference proceedings papers
Preprints
- Research group
-
Recent Research PhD students
Marie-Emma Denarié (2024 – 2027)
Improving plant resilience to biotic and abiotic stress via silicon accumulation
Western Sydney ϳԹ, with Prof Scott JohnsonSajjad Reyhani Haghighi (2023 – 2026)
Interactive effect of climatic events on silicon defences against herbivores
Western Sydney ϳԹ, with Prof Scott JohnsonKatie Shaw (2022 – 2025)
BBSRC White Rose DTP - Silicon enhances stomatal function and protects crop yields, ϳԹ of Sheffield with Prof Julie Gray and Prof Andrew FlemingJoris Wiethase (2019 - 2023)
NERC DTP - Identifying the mechanisms linking savannah degradation and bird distribution change. ϳԹ of York, Co-supervisor, with Dr Colin BealeRocky Putra (2018 - 2021)
GRS- funded fellowship supported by Association of Australian Steel Mills and ϳԹ of York - How silicon kick-starts nitrogen fixation in legumes and what this means for insect food-webs, Western Sydney ϳԹ, with Assoc Prof Scott Johnson and Assoc Prof Jeff PowellJamie Waterman (2018 - 2021)
GRS-funded fellowship - Primed for retaliation: how silicon helps plants “remember” herbivore attack Western Sydney ϳԹ, with Assoc Prof Scott Johnson and Dr Chris CazonelliXimena Cibils-Stewart (2018 - 2021)
Argentine Government Scholarship - How mutualistic fungi augment silicon-based Western Sydney ϳԹ, with Assoc Prof Scott Johnson and Assoc Prof Jeff PowellSarah Thorne (2017- 2021)
BBSRC DTP - Increasing wheat yields with silicon ϳԹ of York, with Prof Frans MaathuisElizabeth Parker (2015 - 2022)
BBSRC DTP, White Rose Network - The role of AMF in drought alleviation in crops: identifying the underpinning physiological mechanisms ϳԹ of Sheffield, with Prof Duncan CameronPierre van Griethuysen (2014-2020)
BBSRC Training Award - Plant-nematode-virus interactions: potential influence on the feeding behaviour of free-living nematodes by the viruses they transmit ϳԹ of York, with Dr Kelly Redeker, Prof Roy Neilson, James Hutton InstituteCurrent and recent Post-docs Research Fellows
Sarah Thorne (2022 – 2027)
ϳԹ Research Fellowship - the role of silicon in plant resistance to plant biotic and abiotic stress.Richard Randle-Boggis (2020 - 2023)
ESRC GCRF award - Harvesting the Sun Twice: Enhancing livelihoods in East African agricultural communities through innovations in solar energy.Rebecca Vandegeer (2017 - 2020)
ARC Discovery project - Down to earth defence: unlocking silicon-derived defences for plant protection against root herbivores and drought. Western Sydney ϳԹ, Dr Scott Johnson, Prof David Tissue.Adam Hejnowicz (2016 - 2020)
ESRC Large Centre award - Centre for Evaluating Complexity Across the Nexus. Lead PI Prof Nigel Gilbert, ϳԹ of Surrey.
- Professional activities and memberships
-
- Jisc Research and Innovation strategy forum group (2023 – present)
- UUK/Jisc content negotiation strategy group (2020 - 2024)
- Honorary membership of British Ecological Society (2021)
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to ecological research and public engagement, Queen’s Birthday Honours (2019)
- Board member, Natural England (2018 – 2021)
- Trustee, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (2016 – 2022)
- President, British Ecological Society (2015 – 2017)
- British Ecological Society Award for service to the ecological community (2012)
- Royal Institution Christmas Lecturer (2009)
- British Ecological Society President’s Medal for contributions to ecological research (2009)
- One Earth (Editorial Advisory Board); new high tier journal in Environmental Sustainability from Cell. (2019-present)
- Global Change Biology (Subject Editor) (2017-2020)
- Kew Science Review panel (2019)
- External Review panel for Plant Sciences in Cambridge (2019)
- Royal Academy of Sciences International Assessment Panel (2018)
- Chair Advisory Group for the NERC/BBSRC joint National Capability Programme for sustainable intensification of agriculture (2016- 2019)
- External Advisory Board, Department of Plant Sciences, ϳԹ of Oxford (2016)
- BBSRC Strategy Advisory Panel on Agriculture and Food Security (2015 - 2018)
- Chair of BBSRC/NERC/ESRC Sustainable Agriculture Research Innovation Club (2014 – 2019)
- Peer Review Evaluation of Wageningen ϳԹ (2009)
- BBBSRC Foresight panel on research relevant to environmental change (2007-2009)
- UKRI panel for the Global Challenges Research Fund (2017-2018)
- UKRI panel for Future Leaders Fellowships (2017-2019)
- Royal Society’s Newton International Fellowships panel (2008-2011)
- Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE), Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs; Chair, ACRE Working group on Environmental Monitoring of GM crops (1999-2006)
- Ad-Hoc Expert, GMO Panel of European Food Safety Authority Expert Witness, World Trade Organisation (2004-2009)