Filming with Erica Hawkins

At the end of June, Sam and Heather visited the Quadram Institute to film with Erica Hawkins, a final year postgraduate researcher working jointly at the John Innes Centre and the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

Erica's PhD project focuses on using plants to make medicines that we may be able to use in the future. Erica kindly took some time away from her laboratory experiments and thesis writing to tell us about the process of photosynthesis. In the videos, we discussed the reactants and products of photosynthesis, the ways in which leaves are specially adapted for photosynthesis and the role of plants in regulating the amounts of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere.

We had great fun filming and really appreciate Erica taking the time to talk to us. We would also like to thank Andrew Chapple from the Quadram Institute for letting us use the laboratory space!