Harriet Parsons
Personal Details |
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| Name | : Harriet Parsons |
| Email address | : harriet.parsons@ed.ac.uk |
| Telephone | : 0131 650 5321 |
| Nationality | : British and Canadian |
| Languages | : English, French |
| Position | : PhD student (2006-2008) |
School Education |
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| 1996: North London Collegiate School-GCSE’s: (7A*, 2A) | |
| 1999: North London Collegiate School- A levels: French (A), Geography (A), Chemistry (B), Biology (A). Awarded biology prize. |
University Education |
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| 1999-2004: University of Edinburgh BSc (Hons.) Biological Science (first class) with honours in Plant Science (modules in plant developmental genetics, plant biochemistry and ecophysiology). Honours project ‘Responses of N. tabacum to sequential drought and recovery cycles’ with Dr. Matthew Williams, Dr. Maurizio Mencuccini (School of Geosciences) and Prof. Andrew Hudson (Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences). Awarded the Dobbie Smith prize for Plant Science. | |
| 2004- University of Edinburgh PhD with Prof. Stephen Fry ‘Ascorbate metabolism in cell suspension cultures during oxidative stress.’ I am currently collaborating with Prof. Jeremy Barnes and Dr. David D’Haese on ascorbate catabolism in tobacco plants over-expressing ascorbate oxidase. | |
| Technical skills acquired during PhD: I am experienced in: | |
| Monitoring stress responses and metabolic pathways through 14C and 3H radioisotope studies | |
| Initiating and maintaining cell suspension cultures, sterile tissue culture and antibiotic selection | |
| Analysis and isolation of compounds via HPLC, electrophoresis, chromatography and autoradiography | |
| Vacuum infiltration and apoplast extraction | |
| Chemical and radiochemical syntheses. | |
| Gas chromatography and NMR. |
Relevant employment and work experience: |
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| 1999: Research assistant with Frontier Vietnam on a biodiversity project. | |
| 2000: Voluntary assistant gardener in the Chelsea Physic Garden, London. | |
| 2001: Office assistant in the Botany Department, Natural History Museum, London. | |
| 2001: Voluntary work, Botany Department, Natural History Museum, London. |
Internships: |
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| 2002: Genetics Society funded internship at the Natural History Museum, London, working with Dr. Johannes Vogel on a phylogenetic analysis of the Asplenium genus with respect to the most recent post-glacial re-colonisation of Europe. |
Poster presentation: |
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| 2005: Bristol, Plant Oxygen Group | |
| 2007: Copenhagen, International Plant Cell Wall Conference |