Pedersen group - Wetland plant resilience

Most of our research is conducted in collaboration with other institutions, and this diagram provides a graphical representation of the collaboration based on publications. Below is a list of some of the most important, along with the topics of collaboration.

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Baños, the Philippines (Dr Amelia Henry) and Nairobi, Kenya (Dr Abdel Ismail). Research on abiotic stress tolerance in rice and breeding for climate resilience. IRRI is a key partner in the project "Climate-resilient and eco-friendly rice for Africa", and we are also collaborating with IRRI on their REMET project focusing on GHG emissions from rice.

Nagoya University, Japan (Professors Motoyuki Ashikari and Mikio Nakazono). Research on root responses to soil flooding and drought.

Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Tanzania (Professor Susan Nchimbi-Msolla). Research on phenotyping for submergence, salinity and drought in African rice genotypes. SUA is a key partner in the project "Climate-resilient and eco-friendly rice for Africa".

The University Western Australia, Australia (Professors Erik Veneklaas and Sergey Shabala) where I am also an adjunct professor. Root responses to drought of Triodia species, a common genus of dryland grasses in Western Australia.

Udine University, Italy (Associate Professor Valentino Casolo). Rice tissue analyses of water soluble carbohydrates and starch.

Florida Atlantic University, the U.S. (Prof Marguerite Koch) where I am also an adjunct professor. Seagrass responses to climate change including responses to hypoxia and hypersalinity.

Our group maintains a blog where we share brief updates on our current work, including our latest discoveries. Be sure to check this section regularly - it is updated monthly or even more frequently!

1. We are expanding our library of video guides for laboratory equipment
2. Exploring collaborative opportunities with SLU in Sweden
3. New seeds from our African partners for salinity experiments
4. Congratulations to Dina Djurhuus on successfully defending her MSc thesis! 
5. We did it! We will make rice production more climate-resilient while lowering greenhouse gas emissions 
6. Tobias Guhr (visiting from University of Bonn, Germany) is conducting a great project in the glasshouse 
7. Zhiwei Song has now graduated - congratulations Dr. Song!
8. A novel experimental approach to measure oxygen consumption or production of plant tissues 

This list of alumni may not be exhaustive, but it offers a great overview of the work our students have done over the past five years.

Alessandro Prichierri - Oxygen consumption by grape wine cuttings (visiting PhD); 2024

Anders Skipper - Flood tolerance of ancient wheat cultivars (MSc); 2018

Anita Bruun Nielsen - Indflydelsen af rastende gæs på klitsøernes vegetation (BSc); 2013

Anna Pii Hjørne - Phytotoxic effects of organic acids (7.5 ECTS project); 2019

Asbjørn Hansen - Drought tolerance of African rice (BSc); 2021

Asbjørn Hansen - Root traits conferring drought tolerance of African rice (MSc); 2023

August K Dinsen - Probiotics and salinity tolerance in rice (BSc); 2019

Carlo Bravo - The role of humic acids in root plaque formation (visiting PhD); 2021 (see this blog-post)

Christopher Steiness - Aerobic and anerobic catabolism in roots of chickpea (BSc); 2021

Christopher Steiness - The importance of leaf gas films for flood tolerance or rice (MSc); 2024 (see this blog-post)

Dina Djurhuus - Relationship between anaerobic germination and submergence tolerance in African rice (MSc); 2025 (see this blog-post)

Don Bosco Tuan Anh Tran - Mechanisms of salt tolerance in rice (BSc); 2022

Elisa Pellegrini - Roots in armour - a barrier induced to protect against intrusion of soil phytotoxins? (Marie-Curie); 2019-2021

Emil JW Anthony - Root barriers to radial oxygen loss and salt intrusion (BSc); 2020  

Fion Murphy - Submerged macrophyte patterns of Lake Constance 1967-2016 (MSc); 2017

Guillermo Toro - Root responses to water deficits in landraces of Lagenaria siceraria (Postdoc); 2022 (see this blog-post)

Hans Benjamin Umbhau Jensen - Leaf gas films and submergence tolerance of rice (BSc); 2022

Ida Rose Pedersen - Tæppegræs: Catabrosa aquatica (BSc); 2016

Jesper Rauff Schultz - Brownification of lobelia lakes in National Park Thy (MSc); 2018

Joel Gilboa Jacobsen - Can Oryza rufipogon resist salinification more effectively than IRRI-154? (BSc); 2022

Johan Emil Kjær  - Toxicity of organic acids and Fe in crops (BSc) (see this blog-post); 2018

Johan Emil Kjær - Root barriers to radial oxygen in loss in wild rice (MSc); 2020

Jonatan Lund Hansen - Flood tolerance of spelt versus modern wheat (BSc); 2018

Juan Jimenez Serena - Root barriers to radial oxygen loss in Urochlora (PhD); 2020

Line Dam Jessen - Gas film retention of wild rice during submergence (BSc); 2021

Louise Vikjær Bote - Ecophysiology of vegetation in lobelia lakes (BSc); 2019

Lucas León Peralta Ogorek - Roots in armour (PhD); (see this blog-post) 2022

Maja S Pedersen - Probiotics and salinity tolerance in rice (BSc); 2019

Marco BK Kowinicki - Probiotics and salinity tolerance in rice (BSc); 2019

Mathilde M Bartholin - Gas film retention of wild rice during submergence (PUK); 2021

Max Stecher - Habitat analysis of wild species of rice – a GIS approach (MSc) (see this blog-post); 2021

Mikkel Madsen-Østerbye - Brownification of lobelia lakes (PhD); 2023

My Hemmeth Børjesen - Toxicity of organic acids  and Fe in crops (BSc) (see this blog-post); 2018

Nana H Mathiesen - Phytotoxic effects of organic acids (7.5 ECTS project); 2019

Oliver Mørk - Tolerance of wheat to partial submergence (MSc) (see this blog-post); 2018

Rasmus Klausen - Sollysets indvirkning på den bakterielle nedbrydning af humusstoffer i Tvorup Hul (BSc); 2016

Rikke Perslev - The influence on rice root traits on methane emissions (Bsc); 2024

Sara Natale - Stem photosynthesis (visiting PhD); 2022

Sara Gargiulo - Greenhouse gas eimission from rice (visiting PhD); 2023, 2024

Shuai Tong - The resilence journey of rice (PhD); 2020-2023

Signe Smidt - The influence on rice root traits on methane emissions (Bsc); 2024

Simone Møller Mortensen - Indflydelsen af rastende gæs på klitsøernes vegetation (BSc); 2013

Sune Ringsing Nielsen - Flood tolerance of chickpea (BSc); 2018

Sune Ringsing Nielsen - Past and present vegetation in softwater lakes (MSc); 2020

Søren Enghoff-Poulsen - Submergence tolerance of wheat (MSc); 2014

Tobias S Hjort - Probiotics and salinity tolerance in rice (BSc); 2019

Trine LK Hansen - Root barriers to radial oxygen loss and water use (BSc); 2020

Victor Carp Kofoed - Flood tolerance of a wild rice relative (BSc); 2019

Viggo K Bastegaard - Effects of root dimension on water retention in roots (Bsc); 2021

Zhiwei Song - Phenotypic plasticity of rice roots (PhD) (see this blog-post); 2024

Tropica Aquarium Plants – Tropica is one of the world's largest producers of aquatic ornamental plants. I am often involved in various R&D projects with Tropica, and these collaborations are always led by Dr. Troels Andersen. Tropica is an indispensable partner, often providing unique experimental plant material for both research and teaching.

Unisense - Unisense provides high-performance microsensors and complete measuring systems for a wide range of applications in environmental and biomedical research. In the past, I was one of the seven founders of this company, but I have never been involved in its day-to-day operations. However, I currenlty serve on the board of directors and have taught regularly on microsensor workshops.

Our group members are involved in supervision of BSc, MSc, PhD and postdocs - project topics for new students are available here. Moreover, we teach compulsory first year biology courses as well as an elective course at the MSc level in biology.

General Ecology (compulsory course at first year Biology)

Diversity of Organisms (compulsory course at first year Biology)

Field Biology III (stream and lake ecology) (compulsory course at first year Biology)

Freshwater Ecology (elective at MSc level)