Heather Prichard

University of Melbourne

Heather Prichard leads the Centre for AgriBioscience plant genomics program at the University of Melbourne, focusing on epigenetic regulation of seed dormancy and germination timing across cereal crops under climate stress. Her group discovered a family of small RNA regulators that control the dormancy-to-germination transition in wheat and barley. Prichard received the Australian Academy of Science's Fenner Medal and holds joint patents with Corteva on marker-assisted selection platforms for drought tolerance in sorghum.