Dr Alison Gill
Grant-Funded Research Associate
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
College of Science
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plants For Space. I am passionate about plant physiological responses to abiotic stress, optimising photosynthesis for future climates and controlled environments, and sustainable agriculture both on- and off-Earth. I am interested in studying the physiology of photosynthesis and its interactions with environmental drivers to improve crop productivity and plant growth.
Currently, I am part of the Lunar Effects on Agricultural Flora (LEAF) consortium, working with NASA, Space Lab Technologies (Colorado), and US universities on an Artemis deployed instrument to grow plants on the moon and return samples to Earth for the first time. LEAF will investigate how plants respond to the unique stresses on the moon’s surface, reducing risks for sustainable off-plant crop production and enabling sustained Lunar habitation. Previously, I collaborated with Vertical Future (UK), the University of Cambridge, the University of Western Australia and other space tech companies, funded by the UK Space Agency and Australian Space Agency, to develop autonomous plant growth facilities for the Axiom Space Station. We developed methods for autonomous stress detection and health monitoring using cameras and machine learning to track plant leaf movements.
From 2020-2023, I was a PhD candidate in the School of Agriculture, Food, and Wine supervised by Professor Rachel Burton, A/Professor Beth Loveys and Professor Tim Cavagnaro (now Flinders University). My research investigated industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) drought tolerance, water use efficiency, and physiological responses to water deficit. My PhD was awarded in May 2024 and I received a Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence. I also worked as a research assistant for Dr Stephanie Watts-Fawkes (now Wageningen University and Research) from 2020 to 2025, investigating arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses with various crop and model plants to increase plant and grain nutrition under abiotic stresses.
In 2022, I was a Fulbright Scholar (dual Future and South Australia scholarships) at the University of California, Berkeley. I joined the Bowles Agroecology laboratory where I investigated how soil management and variety influence dry-farmed tomato plant production and quality under water stress.
I am proud to also be a Playford Trust PhD Scholarship recipient, Tim Healey Memorial Scholarship recipient, CJ Everard Scholarship holder, and AgriFutures Australia Horizon Scholarship alumna.
Please get in touch about collaborations or other opportunities.
^ ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space conference at the University of Adelaide, October 2024. Photo: Naomi Jellicoe.
^ Presenting to the Australian Space Agency, July 2025.
^ In the field, University of California, Berkeley, September 2022.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 - ongoing | Postdoctoral Research Fellow | University of Adelaide |
| 2020 - 2025 | Research Assistant | University of Adelaide |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 - 2024 | University of Adelaide | Australia | PhD in Plant Science |
| 2015 - 2019 | University of Adelaide | Australia | Bachelor of Science (Advanced) with First Class Honours |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Gill, A. R., Peláez-Vico, M. Á., Périlleux, C., & Pociecha, E. (2026). Women in plant science around the world.. Trends in plant science, 31(5), S1360-1385(26)00051-8. |
| 2026 | Rintoul, R. C., Gill, A. R., McAusland, L., Murchie, E. H., Gilliham, M., & Mortimer, J. C. (2026). Developing carbon assimilation methods in duckweed for insights into photosynthesis and growth mechanisms.. Plant physiology, kiag311. |
| 2026 | Watts-Williams, S. J., Thomas, S., Gill, A. R., Nguyen, T. D., & Kabiri, S. (2026). Inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can increase the concentration of per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in cereal crops. Mycorrhiza, 36(3), 31-1-31-11. |
| 2026 | Gauthey, A., & Gill, A. R. (2026). When does embolism become too much? Crossing the point of no return and still surviving. Plant Physiology, kiag353. |
| 2026 | Gill, A. R. (2026). Put some pep in your step: Engineering C4 photosynthesis into rice using maize PEPC.. Plant physiology, kiag388. |
| 2026 | Watts-Williams, S. J., Gill, A. R., Nguyen, T. D., & Wen, Y. (2026). Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi can reduce the bioavailability of Zn and Fe in the grain of barley (Hordeum vulgare) and oat (Avena sativa). Functional Plant Biology Fpb, 53(7), FP26109. |
| 2026 | Gill, A. R., Nguyen, T. D., Jewell, N., Brien, C., & Watts-Williams, S. J. (2026). Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Can Increase Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Aerobically Grown Rice Under Water-Limited Conditions. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, 5(3), 9 pages. |
| 2025 | Watts‐Williams, S. J., Gill, A. R., Nguyen, T. D., Tavakkoli, E., Jewell, N., & Brien, C. (2025). Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Can Improve the Water Use and Phosphorus Acquisition Efficiencies of Aerobically Grown Rice. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment, 4(1), e70040-1-e70040-9. Scopus8 WoS8 |
| 2025 | Gill, A. R., Phillips, A. L., Tyerman, S. D., Lawson, T., Cavagnaro, T. R., Burton, R. A., & Loveys, B. R. (2025). Water conservation and assimilation is driven by stomatal behaviour in industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.). Environmental and Experimental Botany, 232, 106119-1-106119-11. Scopus3 WoS3 |
| 2025 | Gill, A. R., Loveys, B. R., Brien, C. J., Jewell, N., Berger, B., Cavagnaro, T. R., & Burton, R. A. (2025). Phenotyping of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa) genotypes with different growth habits. Functional Plant Biology, 52(8), 13 pages. Scopus1 |
| 2025 | Phillips, A. L., Gill, A., McGorm, B., & Burton, R. A. (2025). LED spectra and defoliation independently shape canopy architecture and cannabinoid yield in indoor Cannabis cultivation. Industrial Crops and Products, 236, 121918. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2025 | Vincent, C., Leisner, C. P., Locke, A. M., Pelech, E., Schmiege, S. C., Sharkey, T. D., . . . Teshome, D. T. (2025). Importance of measuring and reporting environmental conditions across plant science subdisciplines.. Plant Physiol, 199(2), 9 pages. Scopus1 WoS2 Europe PMC1 |
| 2025 | Gill, A. R., Miller, T. K., Wijeweera, S., Herrero, E., Massa, G. D., Mortimer, J. C., . . . Gilliham, M. (2025). Turbocharging fundamental science translation through controlled environment agriculture. Trends in Plant Science, 31(7), 911-924. Scopus3 WoS2 Europe PMC2 |
| 2025 | Phillips, A. L., Matros, A., Seiffert, U., Backhaus, A., McKenzie, P., Jalali, S., . . . Burton, R. A. (2025). Hyperspectral measurements of Cannabis sativa fan leaves during early floral development predict final cannabinoid yield. Industrial Crops and Products, 236, 122010. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2024 | Gill, A. R., Rainey, C., Socolar, Y., Gil-Santos, Y., & Bowles, T. M. (2024). Comparing dry farming of tomatoes across varieties and soil management history. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7, 1301434-1-1301434-14. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2024 | Gill, A. R., & Burton, R. A. (2024). Saltbush seedlings (Atriplex spp.) shed border-like cells from closed-type root apical meristems. Functional Plant Biology, 51(10), FP24178-1-FP24178-12. |
| 2023 | Matros, A., Menz, P., Gill, A., Santoscoy, A., Dawson, T., Seiffert, U., & Burton, R. (2023). Non-invasive assessment of cultivar and sex of Cannabis sativa L. by means of hyperspectral measurement. Plant-Environment Interactions, 4(5), 258-274. Scopus5 WoS4 Europe PMC3 |
| 2023 | Gill, A. R., Loveys, B. R., Cavagnaro, T. R., & Burton, R. A. (2023). The potential of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) as an emerging drought resistant fibre crop. Plant and Soil, 493(1-2), 7-16. Scopus37 WoS35 |
| 2022 | Watts-Fawkes, S., Gill, A. R., Jewell, N., Brien, C. J., Berger, B., Tran, B. T. T., . . . Cavagnaro, T. R. (2022). Enhancement of sorghum grain yield and nutrition: A role for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi regardless of soil phosphorus availability. Plants, People, Planet, 4(2), 143-156. Scopus41 WoS34 |
| 2022 | Gill, A. R., Loveys, B. R., Cowley, J. M., Hall, T., Cavagnaro, T. R., & Burton, R. A. (2022). Physiological and morphological responses of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) to water deficit. Industrial Crops and Products, 187(Part A), 115331-1-115331-11. Scopus55 WoS42 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| - | Gill, A., Loveys, B., Brien, C., Jewell, N., Berger, B., Cavagnaro, T., & Burton, R. (n.d.). Data for phenotyping of industrial hemp (<i>Cannabis sativa</i> L.) experiments. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Herrero, E., Gill, A., Wijeweera, S., Ginzburg, D., Stamford, J., Antoniades, A., . . . Webb, A. A. R. (2026). Dim Green Light Enables Day-and-Night Monitoring of Leaf Movements. DOI Europe PMC1 |
| 2026 | Herrero, E., Wijeweera, S., Gill, A. R., Bampton, C., Sullivan, W., Stamford, J. D., . . . Millar, A. H. (2026). Leaf movements as a quantitative metric for early stress detection. DOI |
I have received funding in the range of >A$300,000, with the following scholarships and grants:
| 2026 | Travel award to attend Plant Physiology editorial meeting and Plant Biology 2026 |
| 2026 | University of Freiburg Rising Stars Academy |
| 2025 | Yitpi Foundation Grant |
| 2024 | Graduate Women SA Trust Postdoctoral Grant |
| 2024 | FEMS Early Career Travel Grant |
| 2023 | Crawford Fund Conference Scholar |
| 2022 | Fulbright Future and Fulbright South Australia Scholarships (University of California, Berkeley) |
| 2022 | AgriFutures Australia Emerging Industries Travel Grant |
| 2022 | ASPB Plant Biology 2022 Travel Award |
| 2021-2023 | Tim Healey Memorial Trust PhD Scholarship |
| 2020-2023 | Playford Trust PhD Scholarship |
| 2019 | Aileen and Bert Kollosche Scholarship for the Study of Australian Flora |
| 2018-2019 | AW Howard Honours Scholarship |
| 2015-2018 | Horizon Agricultural Scholarship |
I have been awarded the following awards and prizes:
| 2025 | Best Oral Presentation (Postdoctoral), Plants for Space Annual Conference |
| 2024 | Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence |
| 2018 | J.G. Wood Memorial Prize for Level III Plant Science subjects at the University of Adelaide |
| 2017 | Aduchem Prize in Level II Analytical Chemistry at the University of Adelaide |
| 2016 | Ena Orrock Lewcock Prize for Level II Plant Science subjects at the University of Adelaide |
| 2015-2018 | Faculty of Sciences Outstanding Academic Achievement Award |
I have demonstrated in practical classes, marked, and/or helped teach in the following University of Adelaide, School of Agriculture, Food, and Wine courses:
- Agricultural Biochemistry II
- Foundations in Plant Science II
- Food Production in a Future Climate III
- Soil and Water Resources II
- Soil and Landscapes I
I have also helped as a guest tutor for statistics in:
- Agricultural Experimental Design and Analysis III
- Masters in Food and Nutrition Science
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Investigating plant cell wall biosynthesis and carbon partitioning in response to the lunar environment | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Bryony Roisin Hodge |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 - ongoing | Member | Australian Society of Plant Scientists | Australia |
