Hope Williams

Hope Williams is a PhD student at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), The University of Queensland (UQ). She concurrently serves as a casual academic, tutoring courses in protein chemistry, molecular biology, and genetics. Her research focuses on using Cryo-Electron Microscopy and molecular biology to study photosynthetic complexes in cyanobacteria, aiming to optimize microalgae strains for cost-competitive solar fuels production.

Education: She holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours 1st Class) in Biochemistry and Plant Biotechnology from Otago University, New Zealand (2021), where her thesis explored photosynthetic complex biogenesis and repair in cyanobacteria. She was awarded the Otago Studentship Scholarship for her work on cyanobacteria characterization.

Research interests span biochemistry, plant biotechnology, and renewable energy applications of microbial systems. Her current PhD project under the Hankamer Group at IMB combines structural biology and biotechnology to address sustainability challenges in solar fuel production.

Awards: Recipient of the Otago Studentship Scholarship (2021).