Biography:Anna Koltunow

From HandWiki
Short description: Australian plant physiologist

Anna Koltunow

Born
Anna Maria Grazyna Koltunow
Alma materFlinders University • University of Adelaide
Scientific career
InstitutionsCSIRO • University of Adelaide • La Trobe University • University of Queensland
ThesisAn investigation of feather keratin gene expression (1986)

Anna M. G. Koltunow FAA FTSE is an Australian plant physiologist researching how plants reproduce. As of 2020 she is Professorial Research Fellow in the Centre for Crop Science at the University of Queensland. She is leading research for the second phase of a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[1]

Koltunow graduated from Flinders University in 1981 with a BSc(Hons).[2] She was awarded a PhD by the University of Adelaide in 1987.[3]

From 2002 to 2006 Koltunow was president of the International Association of Sexual Plant Reproduction Research.[4] She was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in May 2016[5] and of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2018.[6]

Early life and career

Koltunow worked as a post-doctoral fellow at CSIRO before joining the University of California, LA, from 1989 to 1990, before returning to an Australian Research Council Research Fellowship in Adelaide. She was the theme leader of Plant Industry at CSIRO.[7] Koltunow has also worked on a humanitarian project to help farmers produce self-reproducing crops, including cowpea and sorghum crops, enabling farmers to be self-sufficient and produce higher yielding crops.[8]

She also was on the panel of Women of Waite supporting careers in STEM, discussing career paths, and different career disciplines, inspiring young scientists to take up careers in STEM.[9] She also has been involved in wine making from the McLaren vale.[10]

The Australian Academy of Science described her work as follows:

"Her pioneering work in apomixis, developing and using an apomict species where remarkably, female gametes form without meiosis, and seeds develop in the absence of paternal fertilization as a genetic and molecular model has identified similarities and differences in the mechanisms controlling apomixis and sexual seed formation. Koltunow's discoveries are being used in developing crops with transformational productivity improvements in developing countries."[11]

Koltunow has worked in plant industry[12] as well in plant seed and fruit development, and asexual seed formation.[13][14][15]

Koltunow held senior leadership roles at CSIRO, including as the Deputy Chief. She was on the Premier's science council in South Australia, and held a role on the ARC College of Experts.

Selected publications

Awards

  • 2018, Fellow of the Academy of Technology, Science and Engineering.[16]
  • 2016, Fellow of the Academy of Science.
  • 2010, Outstanding service award from the International Plant Reproduction society.[17]
  • 2008, Newton Turner Career Award.

References

  1. "Professor Anna Koltunow" (in en). 2020-10-21. https://qaafi.uq.edu.au/profile/6111/anna-koltunow. 
  2. Koltunow, Anna M (1981), Comparison of the proteins induced by cytokinins in cell division and enzyme induction, https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21203024, retrieved 21 October 2020 
  3. "Professor Anna Koltunow". http://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/24716. 
  4. "Board" (in en). 2011-05-20. https://www.iasprr.org/index.php?browse=36. 
  5. "Academy announces 2016 Fellows" (in en). 2016-05-23. https://www.science.org.au/news-and-events/news-and-media-releases/academy-announces-2016-fellows. 
  6. Cohn, Cohn (2019-01-22). "Koltunow, Anna M. G." (in en-gb). https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P006211b.htm. 
  7. "IBCAS". http://english.ib.cas.cn/. 
  8. "A sexless union to bear great fruit" (in en-AU). 2014-10-01. https://csiropedia.csiro.au/a-sexless-union-to-bear-great-fruit/. 
  9. "The Waite". https://www.thewaite.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/thewaite-issue11.pdf. 
  10. "Koltz" (in en). https://www.winecompanion.com.au/wineries/south-australia/mclaren-vale/koltz. 
  11. "Dr Anna MG Koltunow | Australian Academy of Science". https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/dr-anna-mg-koltunow. 
  12. "Dr Anna Koltunow | Staff Directory". https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/anna.koltunow. 
  13. "Anna Koltunow's research works | The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra (CSIRO) and other places" (in en). https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/2063160201_Anna_Koltunow. 
  14. "CSIRO Team" (in en-US). https://research.csiro.au/capturingheterosis/home/csiro/. 
  15. Koltunow, Anna; Taylor, Jen; Spriggs, Andrew; Henderson, Steven; Hand, Melanie; Johnson, Susan. "CSIRO Data Access Portal – Hieracium Genome Resource" (in en). https://data.csiro.au/dap/landingpage?pid=csiro:17635. 
  16. "Appointments , achievements of the week | Campus Morning Mail" (in en-US). https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/appointments-achievements-of-the-week-11/. 
  17. "Dr Anna MG Koltunow | Australian Academy of Science". https://www.science.org.au/fellowship/fellows/dr-anna-mg-koltunow.