Dr Littlejohn is currently researching the role of Magnaporthe oryzae effectors during infection of rice
SEB President's Medal for Exeter researcher
Early Career Researcher Dr George Littlejohn has won the Society of Experimental Biology President's Medal, for Education & Public Affairs.
The citation is given in honour of his outstanding contributions and commitment to education and communication, as well as his excellent research profile in cell biology.
Arriving at Exeter in 2007 to join Dr John Love’s Lab working on fluorescent biosensors and Calcium signalling in Arabidopsis, George cultivated his interests in plant pathology, biological imaging and teaching. In 2011, he was instrumental in establishing the Exeter Imaging Network, bringing research and education together to a network of 164 researchers from 8 academic departments. That endeavour has produced several successful outputs, his favourite being the “Clumpy” experiment crowd-sourced during summer 2012 with Exeter computer scientists, Prof. Richard Everson and Mr Hugo Hutt.
In 2012, George moved to Professor Nick Talbot’s group where he continues his work elucidating the role of Magnaporthe oryzae effectors during infection of rice. That same year, he co-organised an education workshop at the International Conference on Arabidopsis Research, “How to be a great teacher”, attracting over 100 participants.
George has seen recent success with the Researcher-led Initiative awards 2014 here at Exeter as the lead applicant and co-organiser of the “Researchers as Teachers” workshop for ECRs with Dr Thomas Howard and Dr Elizabeth Dridge.
Speaking of the award George said “I was thrilled to find out the SEB had honoured me with a President's Medal. I’m extremely grateful to the excellent mentors and collaborators I’ve been lucky to have throughout my PhD and post-doc years. In particular, at Exeter, Dr John Love and Prof. Nick Talbot have, in different ways, been amazingly supportive. Looking ahead, I plan to follow my interests in research and teaching and pursue a career in academic science."
Dr Love described George as a "passionate educator” and commented that “this national award recognises his efforts in engaging our students with interesting and relevant content in new and imaginative ways."
George will be presented the award at the society’s main annual meeting this July in Manchester.
For further details: www.sebiology.org/meetings/Manchester/pres_meds.html.
Date: 11 June 2014
