Martha Ludwig

Emerita Professor Martha Ludwig holds positions as Emeritus Professor and Senior Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Molecular Sciences, and Professor in the Institute of Agriculture, at The University of Western Australia. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, and a PhD in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology at McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, focusing on the endosymbiotic origin of chloroplasts. Her postdoctoral research included studies on cell surface antigens in algae at the University of Melbourne, CO2 concentrating mechanisms in the C4 pathway and cyanobacteria at Queensland University of Technology as an ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, and further work at the Australian National University Research School of Biological Sciences. She served as a Lecturer in the Division of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at ANU and in the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University before joining UWA in 2003.

At UWA, Ludwig advanced to Head of the School of Molecular Sciences and Associate Dean, International, in the Faculty of Science. She has led the Australian Society of Plant Scientists as President (2023-2024) and Chair (2022), and co-chaired the 2017 Gordon Research Conference on CO2 Assimilation in Plants. Her research centers on the molecular evolution, biochemistry, and genetics of C4 photosynthesis, examining carbon concentrating mechanisms, plant cell biology, and the evolution of C4 and CAM pathways using RNA-Seq, transgenics, confocal microscopy, and in situ localization. Notable publications include “The Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle in C4 and Crassulacean acid metabolism species” (Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology, 2024), “Leaf transcriptomes from C3, C3-C4 intermediate, and C4 Neurachne species give insights into C4 photosynthesis evolution” (Plant Physiology, 2025), “Environmental factors have a greater influence on photosynthetic capacity in C4 plants than biochemical subtypes or growth forms” (New Phytologist, 2025), and “Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation of Flaveria bidentis leaves: a novel method to examine the evolution of C4 photosynthesis” (Plant Methods, 2024). Ludwig received the UWA Faculty Teaching Award for Programs That Enhance Student Learning in 2011 and the Australian Society of Plant Scientists Teaching Award in 2005. She has served as Editor for Frontiers in Plant Science (2021) and is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Experimental Botany. She designed Master of Biotechnology and Master of Biomedical Science programs at UWA.

Professional Email: martha.ludwig@uwa.edu.au