Rate My Professor Jenny Mortimer

Professor Jenny Mortimer is Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at Adelaide University and Deputy Director of the Waite Research Institute. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences from the University of Bristol (2002), an MRes in Bioinformatics from the University of Exeter (2003), and a PhD in Plant Physiology from the University of Cambridge (2008). Her career includes postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge (2007-2013) and a RIKEN FPR Research Fellowship in Japan (2013-2014). In 2014, she joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a Research Scientist, advancing to Staff Scientist (2018-2021) while serving as Director of Plant Systems Biology at the Joint BioEnergy Institute and Deputy Vice President of the Feedstocks Division. She joined Adelaide University in 2021 as Associate Professor through a Top Talent appointment, promoted to Professor in 2025, and maintains an Affiliate Staff Scientist role at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Mortimer coordinates courses including Microbiology & Biotechnology II and Biotechnology Practice III.

Mortimer's research at the interface of plant cell biology, glycobiology, and synthetic biology focuses on plant cell wall polysaccharides, glycosylation, and metabolism to engineer sustainable crops for bioeconomy, biofuels, food security, and space exploration. Her team works with species such as Arabidopsis, sorghum, switchgrass, Brachypodium, poplar, wheat, oat, and duckweeds, contributing to projects like the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space, ARC Research Hub for Engineering Plants to Replace Fossil Carbon, and US Department of Energy initiatives. Key publications include 'Absence of branches from xylan in Arabidopsis gux mutants reveals potential for simplification of lignocellulosic biomass' (PNAS, 2010), 'Folding of xylan onto cellulose fibrils in plant cell walls revealed by solid-state NMR' (Nature Communications, 2016), and 'A grass-specific cellulose–xylan interaction dominates in sorghum secondary cell walls' (Nature Communications, 2020). Awards include the World Economic Forum Young Scientist (2016/17), Jan Andersen Mid-Career Award for Women in Plant Science (2024), and Bruce Stone Award for Excellence in Cell Wall Biochemistry (2024). She serves as Handling Editor for The Plant Journal and Plant Cell Physiology, and engages in science communication, policy committees, and outreach.