International Guest Lecture Series: Talk By Dr. Trevor Hodkinson, Trinity College Dublin
Under the aegis of International Education Cell, a guest lecture was organized at the Department of Biotechnology, FET, MRIIRS for students and faculty.
The expert guest was Dr. Trevor Hodkinson, from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. The audience comprised of students from B.Tech, M.Tech and M.Sc Biotechnology and faculty members. Dr. Trevor is a molecular biologist and Professor in Botany at School of Natural Science at Trinity College. He teaches Botany, Environmental Science, and Biology and heads a DNA/ Botany Molecular laboratory primarily used for agricultural and biodiversity research.
Dr. Hodkinson is particularly interested in using phylogenetic and population genetic approaches in genetic resource activities, endophyte biology, and comparative biology. He has specialist knowledge of grasses and forest trees – with a particular interest in their fungal endophytic symbionts (endophytes) and also has a strong interest in genetic resource characterization and prebreeding of forage grasses and non-food crops.
The topic of Dr. Trevor’s lecture was ‘Biotechnology for New Plants’, in which he gave insights into utilization of plant biodiversity for deriving various benefits for mankind. He also shared about the research work going on in his laboratory and indicated his interests in collaborative research. He gave a brief description of the Genomics and Computational Biology facilities at Trinity College, Dublin.
The lecture was followed by an interactive session with respective students in which the students discussed thoroughly about the education system and research culture at the Trinity College Dublin. At the end, Dr. Trevor as felicitated by Dr. Abhilasha Shourie, Professor & HOD- Biotechnology, Dr. K. Kannan, Chair Professor- Biotechnology and faculty members of the Department.