Planting Knowledge, Cultivating Insight - PlantClimate Lab at IPSAM
Our PlantClimate Lab had an outstanding presence at this year’s Irish Plant Scientists’ Association Meeting (IPSAM 2025) in Galway on 16–17 June. Across five talks and two posters, our team shared research spanning paleoenvironmental chemistry, epigenetic stress responses, ecosystem water balance, restoration ecology, and climate-focused tree monitoring.
Talks
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Ailbhe Brazel presented “Understanding the role of histone methylation in plant hypoxia responses”, exploring how epigenetic mechanisms help plants adapt to low oxygen stress conditions.
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Emma Blanka Kovács delivered “Mercury analyses of modern and fossil plant substrates as indicators of atmospheric Hg loading”, highlighting how modern and historical plant material can trace mercury pollution through time.
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Sate Ahmad shared “On Weather, Water & Willows: Stomatal Response to Meteorological Forcings in Salix viminalis”, examining the effects of meteorological variability on plant water use and ecosystem balance.
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Miriam Slodownik presented findings from the Witness Tree Project, which uses mature trees at Trinity Botanic Garden to monitor environmental change. Her talk focused on long-term tracking of physiological responses—such as stomatal conductance and particulate capture—to air pollution and climate stressors.
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Christos Chondrogiannis gave an evolutionary perspective in his talk on the origins and evolution of CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) photosynthesis, using cycads as a model. His research contributes to understanding how ancient plant lineages adapted to arid environments, providing insight into the evolutionary drivers of water-use efficiency in plants.
Posters
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Siddiq Muhammad presented “How Atmospheric Change Influences Elemental Composition in Woody Plants Across Global Biomes”, a global-scale study leveraging herbarium collections to assess how rising CO₂ and nitrogen deposition have shifted leaf nutrient profiles across biomes.
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Sate Ahmad also presented “The Role of Landscape Ecology in Ecosystem Restoration”, outlining a multidisciplinary project that combines ecological data, spatial analysis, and long-term field monitoring to assess restoration outcomes across Irish landscapes.
It was a fantastic two days of science, collaboration, and connection. We’re incredibly proud of our team for representing PlantClimate Lab with such energy and excellence, and for contributing to important conversations on how plants respond to a changing planet.
