Enid MacRobbie was a biophysicist who studied ion transport within plants. Her particular interest lay in stomata - the pores through which oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour are exchanged between the plant and the surrounding environment. Enid's research has helped to explain how stomata close - to regulate gas intake and conserve water - through the loss of potassium ions from the guard cells that surround them.
She was also known for her early work with giant algae, determining the ionic compositions of both their cytoplasm and vacuoles, along with the fluxes of major ions across the plasma membrane and the membrane that surrounds the vacuole. This work provided the first application of isotope efflux analysis in plants.
In addition to being a Fellow of the Royal Society, Enid was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1998, and as a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences in 1999.
Professor Enid MacRobbie FRS died on 22 September 2024.
Subject groups
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Patterns in Populations
Plant sciences / botany
