Personal profile

Curriculum vitae

Education and professional career
International Baccalaureate (Ylioppilastutkinto): Pohjois-Tapiola Gymnasium, Espoo, 31st  May, 1978.
Bachelor of Natural Science, University of Hel¬sinki, Faculty of Natural Sciences, 21st December, 1982.
Master of Science, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Natural Sciences, 10th May, 1984.
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of St Andrews, Faculty of Science, 7th July, 1988.
Adjunct Professor (Docent) in physiological plant science, University of Helsinki, 8th November, 1995.
Senior lecturer,  August 1, 1996 – July 31, 2001.
Vicarious associate professor in plant physiology and anatomy, August 1, 1992 - July 31, 1993 and September 1, 1996- May 31, 1997, Department of Botany, University of Helsinki, Finland
Member of the Center of Excellence of Plant Molecular Biology and Forest tree Biotechnology lead by Prof. Tapio Palva, 2000 - cont.
University lecturer in Plant Physiology and Molecular Biology, August 1st, 2001 –
Head of Plant Biology division at the Department of Biosciences for the administrative period 2007-2009 and 2010-2013.

Other scientific merits
Editorial board member for Plant Ecology & Diversity
Referee of the following scientific journals: New Phytologist, Plant Physiology, Planta, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Physiologia Plantarum, Journal of Experimental Botany and Annals of Botany.
Referee for a visiting professorship of NORFA in 2003.
Scientific evaluator for South African Government Research Grant awarding body, NRF since 2000.
Member of the council and treasurer of Societas Physiologiae Plantarum Scandinavica, SPPS, since 2008.

Memberships in scientific associations
Biological Society of Finland Vanamo
European Plant Science Organisation, EPSO
Federation of European Societies for Plant Biology, FESPB
Finnish Dendrological Society
Finnish Physiological Society
International Association for Plant Tissue Culture
International Society of Plant Anaerobiosis, ISPA
Plant Protein Club (PPC)
Royal Horticultural Society
Societas Physiologiae Plantarum Scandinavica, SPPS

International tasks
Co-Editor for the Journal Integrative Plant Biology since 2009.
Co-Editor for the special issue on the Plant Cell Surface with Prof. Anne Mie Emons of Wageningen University in the Netherlands for the Journal of Integrative Plant Biology in 2009-2010.
Main organizer of the International Society for Plant Anaerobiosis (ISPA) congress in Finland in 1995 funded by the Ministry of Education, Academy of Finland and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Conference proceedings were published in Annals of Botany.
Secretary of the International Society for Plant Anaerobiosis 1995-2004. The society has organized congresses since 1975. The latest have been held in the Netherlands in 2001, in Australia in 2004 and the next will be held in Japan in 2006.
Organizer of a practical course on plant ecophysiology in collaboration with the Universities of Uppsala, Turku, St Petersburg and Helsinki funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers (200 000 DKK) in 2002.
Member of the organisation committee of a conference: XXII International Conference on Polyphenols, Helsinki 25-28 August, 2004.
EU COST Action E20 (Cell Wall Structures) national representative during 2000-2004.
EU COST Action E50 (Cell Wall Macromolecules and Reaction Wood) national representative during 2005-2009.
Member of the organizing committee of the FESPB congress held in Tampere, Finland, in August 2008.
Principal organizer of Peroxidase 2008 satellite symposium of FESPB be held in Tampere, Finland in August, 2008.

Research awards and research honours
Bronze Kairamo medal awarded for advancement of biological science in Finland by the Biological Society for Finland in 2006.

Major stipendiary support for research since 1990
A postdoctoral grant in 1990 from the Finnish Cultural Foundation for research on superoxide dismutase, 41 000 FIM.
A grant of 90 000 FIM for the production of a monograph on the anatomy and use of Finnish trees from Metsämiesten säätiö in 1991. (Together with Dr Pekka saranpää and Ms Tuuli Timonen.)
A postdoctoral grant in 1996 from the Finnish Cultural Foundation for research on flooding tolerance of plants, 23 000 FIM.
Several grants for postgraduate students from the Center for International Mobility, CIMO.
A grant from the Academy of Finland in 1998 for work on the role of peroxidases in lignin biosynthesis, 1 500 000 FIM.
Center of Excellence funding from the Academy of Finland in 2000, 750 000 FIM (130 000 €) for a three-year period.
A grant from the Academy of Finland programme Sustainable Use of Natural Resources (SUNARE) in 2001, 770 600 FIM (130 000 €) for a three-year period.
A grant from the National Technology Agency (TEKES) in 2001 for continuation of the lignin biosynthesis programme, 1 200 000 FIM (200 000 €) for a 1.5 year period.
A grant from the Nordic Council of Ministers for the organization of a course in Physiological Ecology of Plants in collaboration between Uppsala, Helsinki, Turku and St Petersburg Universitites, 200 000 DKK.
A grant from the National Technology Agency (TEKES) in 2003 for continuation of the lignin biosynthesis programme, 126 800 € for a 2 year period.
Center of Excellence funding from the Academy of Finland in 2003, 130 000 € for a three-year period 2003-2005.
A grant from the Academy of Finland in 2004 for the Ph.D. student Konstantin Kulichikhin 0f 8050 € for 2004.
Center of Excellence funding from the Academy of Finland in 2005, 130 000 € for a three-year period 2005-2009.
A grant from the National Technology Agency (TEKES) for 2004-2006, c. 120 000 € for lignin biosynthesis research.
Collaborative project with keskuslaboratorio, KCL, for the use of inherent wood peroxidases in pulp processing, 50 000 € for 2005-2006.
A grant from the Finnish Forest Cluster for 2008-2009 for lignin biosynthesis research, c. 100 000 €
A grant from the Finnish Forest Cluster for 2010-2013 for lignin biosynthesis research, 145 857 €.

Collaboration with other researchers in Finland and abroad
Prof. Hely Häggman, University of Oulu, Department of Biology, Finland
Dos. Pekka Saranpää, Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA)
Dr. Abir Igamberdiev, the Dept. of Biology, Memorial Univ. of Newfoundland, Canada
Dos. Kirsi-Marja Oksman-Caldentey, State Technical Research Center, VTT
Dr. Farida Minibayeva, Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the Russian Academy of Sciences, Kazan, Russia
Prof. Tamara V. Chirkova, Univ. of St Petersburg, Russia
Prof. Robert M.M. Crawford, University of St Andrews, Scotland
Prof. Johannes Pretorius, Univ. of the Free State, South Africa
Prof. Katia Ruel, CERMAV, Grenoble, France
Dr. Pauli Kallio, Institute of Microbiology, ETH-Zürich, Switzerland

Fields of Science

  • 11831 Plant biology
  • Plant Biology
  • Plant Physiology
  • Plant molecular biology
  • Wood development
  • Plant stress tolerance
  • Plant antioxidants
  • Lignin biosynthesis

International and National Collaboration

Publications and projects within past five years.