Rate My Professor Stefan Kepinski

Professor Stefan Kepinski is Professor of Plant Sciences in the Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Leeds, serving as Head of the School of Biology and Associate Director of the Global Food and Environment Institute. He earned his BSc and PhD from the University of Liverpool. His research centers on the regulation of plant development by the hormone auxin, with expertise in plant development, root and shoot system architecture, gravitropism and growth angle control, auxin transport and signalling, auxin perception, and herbicide development. Key projects explore auxin-regulated processes including receptor complex formation and structural biology of auxin perception, root hair development, context-specificity in auxin signalling using root epidermis models, and growth angle control via gravitropic setpoint angles in lateral roots, branches, and organs. He employs genetics, molecular genetics, cell biology, computational modelling, and omics technologies such as whole genome resequencing for mutation identification and single cell RNA sequencing. Additionally, his work addresses pathways to regenerative net zero agriculture, focusing on reducing synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use, carbon sequestration, and decarbonization through plasma-based livestock slurry processing and on-farm energy production.

Kepinski is a Gatsby Plant Science Mentor at the University of Leeds and Chair of the Agricultural Universities Council UK. He holds committee roles including Chair of the Plant Section of the Society of Experimental Biology, executive committee member of the UK Plant Science Federation, and member of the Undergraduate School Taught Student Education Committee as Programme Manager for Biology and Joint Honours programmes. His influential publications include 'Angle dependence as a unifying feature of root graviresponse control' (PNAS, 2025), 'ARF degradation fine-tunes auxin response in land plants' (Nature Plants, 2025), 'Antigravitropic PIN polarization maintains non-vertical root gravitropic setpoint angle' (Nature Plants, 2023), 'Auxin Controls Gravitropic Setpoint Angle in Higher Plant Lateral Branches' (Current Biology, 2013), and 'Auxin in Root Development' (Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology, 2022). These contributions advance understanding of plant architecture for sustainable crop improvement and environmental impact mitigation in agriculture.