Sharon Robinson (scientist)

Early life and education

Robinson was born in London but lived in Cornwall from age 6 to 19. She attended Helston Community College in West Cornwall and Budehaven Community School on the North Coast of Cornwall. She moved back to London to study Genetics & Botany at University College London and graduated in 1983. Sharon then worked for two years in student politics, first at UCL as a Sabbatical Officer and President of the union (UCLU) concerned with student education and welfare, and then as an Executive Officer of the National Union of Students.

In 1986 she completed a Graduate Certificate in Science Education at King's College London and taught science at Hampstead School, London for a year. She then returned to UCL in 1987 to start a PhD with "Nitrogen metabolism in carrot cell cultures" which she completed in 1990. After graduating, she held postdoctoral positions at Duke University in the US (1991) and the School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra (1992-1995).

Career and impact

Robinson was made the inaugural lecturer in plant physiology at the University of Wollongong in 1996, and became a Senior Professor in 2016. She is a plant ecophysiologist and climate change biologist. Her research examines how plants respond to climate change with an integrated systems approach using molecular to ecological techniques. Throughout her career she has pioneered novel techniques to investigate metabolic processes in vivo and has expertise in plant nitrogen metabolism, respiration, photosynthesis and photoprotective mechanisms (both for visible and ultraviolet (UV) radiation). One of her career highlights was demonstrating a role for the enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase in nitrogen mobilisation. Some of her most impactful work has been in developing on-line mass spectrometry methods to measure the pathways that contribute to plant respiration, which has enabled assessment plant stress physiology and thermoregulation.

Robinson has pioneered the use of isotope analysis and other chemical makers for understanding how Antarctic mosses function and how climate change is affecting Antarctic plants. Through her research using of radiocarbon bomb spike she has been able to date Antarctic mosses – providing long-term growth records that demonstrate these are “old growth mosses”.

Robinson has developed a long term monitoring system for Antarctic vegetation which is providing the first evidence that climate change is affecting East Antarctic terrestrial communities. In her research she uses unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to measure canopy productivity using chlorophyll fluorescence and spectroscopic techniques. She has developed a near-remote sensing technologies to assess and track ecosystem health in Antarctica.

Robinson is currently a member of the United Nations Environment Programme Environmental Effects Assessment Panel, is on the Australian Research Council College of Experts, is an Editor for the journal Global Change Biology. She has written several articles for the public, exhibited Antarctic photography and produced award winning YouTube video to promote science. She has visited the Antarctic continent and islands more than 10 times and her research has been featured in the UOW 40 years of Research and ABC and BBC Science sites. In 2012 she was an invited speaker at the Australian Academy of Sciences, Mawson Symposium at the Shine Dome in Canberra.

Awards and honours

Robinson has been awarded several prizes over her career. These include the Chlorotube 1st prize Competition 3 (YouTube In the Heat of the Night) 2010, 2nd prize Competition 1 (YouTube The Science of Cool) 2009, the Australian Society of Plant Scientists’ Teaching Award 2002, and the Irene Manton Prize, Linnean Society of London. Best UK PhD in Botany 1991.