Min Chen
Professor Min Chen was a co-leader of Research Program 2 “Improving light energy capture efficiency” and Node leader at Sydney University. She was also involved in program 3 “Exploiting photosynthetic variation.”
The focus of her research in the Centre was to study the function of light harvesting pigments and use of novel red-shifted pigments to extend the spectrum plants use to harvest sunlight. She also has an interest in identifying natural variation in light harvesting by different photosynthetic organisms.
Min’s research interests are primarily concerned with elucidating the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of the energy-storing reactions and photo-regulatory processes in photosynthetic organisms, especially the function of red-shifted chlorophylls in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms (cyanobacteria and algae).
Her current research focused on improving light harvesting efficiency by extending the photosynthetic active solar spectral region, enhancing light penetration into crop canopies and reducing the wastage of excess sunlight.
Her research areas included chlorophyll f-photosynthesis, biosynthesis of chlorophyll and light-harvesting efficiency and their natural variation
Min was awarded a Bachelor of Science in 1984 and a Master’s degree in 1987 from Chinese Universities and a PhD from the University of Sydney in 2003.
She is internationally known for her research unravelling the functions of red-shifted pigments in photosynthetic light harvesting.
Min has received several awards including the Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist in 2011, the Peter Goldcare Award of the Australian Society of Plant Sciences in 2013, and The Robin Hill Award from the international society for photosynthesis research in 2013.
Min was part of the Centre from 2014 to 2021