The ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture is proud to bring you the next seminar in our Talking Plant Science series.

*Correction: Christine accidentally introduces Jenny as the Deputy Director for ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. Jenny is Deputy Director of the Waite Research Institute, and Chief Investigator and University of Adelaide Node leader of the ARC CoE Plants for Space.

'Redesigning plants to support long-term Space exploration and for on Earth sustainability'
Jenny Mortimer
The University of Adelaide and ARC CoE in Plants for Space

Humans are planning to explore Space further than ever before, with a return to the lunar surface happening as part of the Artemis III mission in 2026, and with a crewed landing planned for the surface of Mars in the 2030s. Important to this is the ability to support astronauts to thrive in space, as opposed to just survive. Food is a key part of this, and with ~10 tonnes of food required for a 4-person mission to Mars, there is an urgent need to produce food in situ, as well as materials and therapeutics. Growth of plants on planetary surfaces will be in closed environment agriculture (CEA) facilities, similar to vertical farming systems being developed here on Earth. However, plants did not evolve to grow in these environments. Here, I will discuss how we can use the lens of Space to innovate for sustainable agriculture. Beyond that, we can use the strict circular economy of Space to develop robust and sustainable in plantabiomanufacturing, supporting a transition to a bioeconomy.