Owen Atkin

Abstract

What inspired your interest in plant science?

My early years were spent in Kokoda in Papua New Guinea (where my dad was a teacher) – a place where one lived surrounded by forests and grasslands. From family albums, it is clear that we spent a lot of time playing barefoot outdoors, surrounded by, and immersed in lush tropical vegetation. On returning to Australia as a 6-year-old, I had to adjust to wearing shoes in an ordered, suburban landscape that lacked Kokoda's greenness. A yearning for green-dominated environments played a role in my interest in plants, along with: talking to my grandfather about what he was growing in his vegetable garden (and debating whether he really needed to chop down a tree that was shading his vegetables !); and, an uncle introducing me to the landscape wonders of bushwalking and back country cross-country skiing in Australia's high country. These experiences gave me a deep emotional appreciation for the role plants play in regulating ecosystem services and in defining the ‘human condition’. Then, in time, I became fascinated with the question of how plants survive where they do and what factors regulate their ability to grow and reproduce.