This week’s interview is with Amy Newman, a third year PhD student at the University of Warwick, who researches circadian rhythms in the plant root-associated microbiome. Amy investigates changes throughout the day in the structure and function of microbial communities, and works with model and crop plant species using a variety of microbiological and molecular approaches. Amy became particularly interested in plant-microbe interactions after taking a module in plant disease during her MSci in Biology, which she completed at the University of Bristol.
What is your favourite band/musical artist pre 1980?
The sort of stuff my dad would play in the car when I was younger – mainly Queen and Duran Duran.
Favourite band/musical artist post 1980?
The Killers, they’re the first band I properly got into as a teenager and still sound as great to me today as ever.
Favourite movie?
I don’t think I have one; I’m not that big on films really. People are often surprised to hear I’ve never seen stuff like the Lion King or Star Wars!
Where do you study and who is/are your supervisors?
I’m at the University of Warwick, supervised by Prof. Gary Bending and Dr. Isabelle Carré.
What year of your PhD are you in?
A couple of months into my third year.
Who’s giving you the money – and for how long?
NERC’s CENTA (Central England Training Alliance) doctoral training programme, which gives me three and a half years of stipend.
Do you have any publications?
Not yet!
Did you do a masters – where was it and was it about?
Yes, I did an MSci (4 year long integrated Masters) in Biology at the University of Bristol. My project was looking at whether we could use carbon nanoparticles to deliver DNA into plant cells and the answer was “maybe”.
Do you do fieldwork?
If digging up some soil every now and then, then taking it back to the lab to grow stuff in, counts, then yes!
What about labwork? What are the best and worst bits about your labwork?
The worst has to be setting up qPCRs in 96-well plates – something I find both difficult and boring at the same time! It’s repetitive but also can be hard to keep track that you’re putting the right combinations of stuff in the right places. The best bits would have to be whenever stuff works as I want it to – I’m always a little surprised when I try something new and it goes to plan!
How many PhDs did you apply for – what were you looking for?
I did around 8 applications in the end, during both my Bachelors and Masters years, and everything I applied for was in the area of plant-microbe interactions or plant pathology.
What is the most bodged piece of equipment you have had to use during field/labwork – did it work?
I’ve been developing a method for imaging roots growing in special flat microcosms, which I made using custom-cut transparent perspex. To cover them up while I’m not imaging I made a load of covers from bin bags – less fancy! But not really bodged after all because it turns out they’re ideal for the job.
What one piece of advice would you give to a masters student applying to PhDs now?
Get in touch with your prospective supervisor before applying; if you can, have a chat over the phone or meet in person to discuss the project and any questions you have. I think it can really help you stand out from a crowd of people just submitting applications cold.
What supervisor traits are important to you?
Being realistic, enthusiastic, and kind.
What do you think are the worst supervisor traits?
Being uninterested, a micromanager, or never available.
In one sentence what is your PhD about?
I look for circadian rhythms in the plant root-associated microbiome, and am starting to try and find out why they happen.
What has been your academic highlight of the last year?
Speaking at the International Society for Microbial Ecology conference, in Leipzig, Germany.
Have you had an academic low point of the last year – if so what happened?
I can’t think of any one particular low point, just a few little disappointments like new equipment arriving broken, getting a temperature probe stuck inside said new equipment, cultures getting contaminated.
Which academic idol/scientist have you met?
I saw the back of David Attenborough’s head from a distance once.
Which academic idol/scientist would you most like to meet?
I find the thought of meeting idols a bit awkward, I wouldn’t know what to say to them!
Do you have a favourite paper?
Not particularly, but one that I read during the first week of my PhD and remains really interesting to me is “Jasmonate signalling drives time-of-day differences in susceptibility of Arabidopsis to the fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea”( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/tpj.13050). It shows that the severity of disease a pathogen causes can depend on the time of day a plant is infected – this circadian element is usually overlooked when we think of plant-microbe interactions.
What hours do you typically work?
Around 8.45am to 5.15pm.
What do you do when you’re not working – how do you balance it with your PhD?
Look after (and expand!) my houseplant collection, try and get into nature and visit new places as much as I can. I also dabble in lots of different things, like pottery, yoga classes and crochet.
If a genie could grant you one wish to help with your PhD what would you wish for?
A robot to do my 96-well qPCR setups for me.
What would be your dream job?
Running a botanic garden!
What do you want to achieve outside of academia in the coming year?
Do more wild camping, go on more spa days, perhaps try and get back into weightlifting.
What essential tool hardware/software could you not do your PhD without?
ImageJ – I’m still amazed that a programme that looks so much like Microsoft Paint can do so much that would take forever manually.
Do you have a favourite organism?
I always say that this one strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens (a bacterium commonly found on plant roots) is my favourite, but only because I’m doing a lot of work with it at the moment! On a macro scale, I’m a big fan of large birds like ibises and vultures.
How do you avoid procrastinating?
I’m big on lists and planning, so I try to assign tasks and fill days so that I leave less time blank for faffing.
What motivates you in your day to day PhD life?
It’s not so much day to day, but I really enjoy getting involved with outreach activities. Explaining things to the general public reminds me of the bigger picture and that the research we do is actually really cool – which I find can both be easy to forget when you’re bogged down in the finer details. If all else fails or things are particularly stressful, the thought of being Dr Newman one day always cheers me up!
How often do you meet with your supervisors?
About every two weeks, sometimes with little chats in between as stuff comes up.
Are there any social interactions/meetings which have enhanced your PhD experience?
After our CENTA training days, our cohort often goes to the pub together. While we all study quite different things, it’s nice to just have a laugh and catch up about PhD experiences which are common across the board.
If you could change one thing about your group/department structure what would it be?
We have a big department-wide environmental microbiology email group, which is mainly used for complaints about broken equipment or untidy labs, which is fair enough; these things need sorting. I was talking to a couple of other students recently who jokingly said that it’d be great if people used it to share nice little things too – like “hey guys, my PCR worked!” and I actually quite like that idea! It’s nice to celebrate little victories.
What major question in your subject area is yet to be addressed – why is it important and why isn’t anyone addressing it?
Not necessarily a question, more of a general issue, and I’d say it’s starting to be addressed, but I think we still need to help the wider public appreciate the importance of soil much more – not just in terms of food production but ecosystem services too.
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