Rate My Professor Peter Crisp

Dr. Peter Crisp is a Senior Lecturer and Group Leader in the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability at The University of Queensland. He obtained his PhD in Plant Biology from the Australian National University in 2016, a Bachelor of Science with Honours in 2009, and a Bachelor of Laws with Honours in 2008 from the same university. His research specializes in crop functional genomics, epigenetics, and biotechnology, advancing understanding of epigenetics' role in heritable phenotypic variation in plants. Focusing on cereals such as barley, sorghum, wheat, and maize, Crisp's group develops technologies to harness epigenetic variation for crop improvement, examines epigenetics in environmental responses, and uses epigenomic methods to identify key functional genomic regions. The Crisp Lab, opened in 2020, integrates wet laboratory and computational biology to enable genetic, genomic, and biotechnological innovations in trait engineering.

A recipient of the ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellowship, UQ Amplify Fellowship, and ASPS Goldacre Award, Crisp affiliates with the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation and serves as Chief Investigator in the ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding and the International Research Training Group for Accelerating Crop Genetic Gain. He supervises PhD students on projects including genome editing for monocot crops, epigenomics in grapevine, and sorghum grain quality. Key publications encompass 'Reconsidering plant memory: intersections between stress recovery, RNA turnover, and epigenetics' (Science Advances, 2016), 'Learning the languages of the chloroplast: retrograde signaling and beyond' (Annual Review of Plant Biology, 2016), 'Precision plant epigenome editing: what, how, and why' (Trends in Plant Science, 2026), 'Epigenetic features drastically impact CRISPR–Cas9 efficacy in plants' (Plant Physiology, 2022), and 'Haplotype-based insights into seminal root angle in barley' (The Plant Genome, 2025). Crisp's contributions enhance epigenetic strategies for sustainable crop resilience and productivity.