Antony N. Dodd

What inspired your interest in plant science?When I was small, I was always interested in science but mainly the physical sciences.This was especially motivated by a children's book that my father had, which was entitled, 'Discovering Science'.This covered an eclectic set of topics from structures of atoms to tropical diseases and phytoplankton.I think I became more interested in the biological sciences as a teenager, especially through some concern about the need for better environmental protection.I elected to pursue a BSc programme that had a strong focus on environmental sciences.However, early in my degree, I was inspired by a set of lectures from Howard Griffithswho was at Newcastle University at the timethat showed how it was possible to study biochemical processes in plants that were growing under field conditions, over 24 h cycles.His lectures motivated me strongly to switch to a Plant Biology degree programme, leading to a final-year research project in the Griffiths laboratory and, subsequently, a PhD on 24 h cycles of metabolism in Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants, supervised by Anne Borland and