Nick Smirnoff

Professor Nick Smirnoff is a Plant Biochemistry faculty member at the University of Exeter's School of Biosciences. He directs the Exeter Mass Spectrometry Facility focused on small molecule analysis, and his research spans plant antioxidant metabolism, vitamin C biosynthesis, and environmental stress responses.

• Education: PhD (1981, University of St Andrews), BSc Botany (1978, University of Bristol)

His research explores:

• Ascorbate (vitamin C) synthesis and function in plants
• Hydrogen peroxide and ROS dynamics
• LC-MS/GC-MS metabolite profiling methods
• Raman microscopy for plant chemical imaging
• Thermal adaptation in algae and cyanobacteria

He has contributed to mass spectral database development for plant metabolomics and maintains affiliations with Exeter's research networks in Food and Marine sciences.

Scientific Awards

• Agricultural and Food Research Council Wain Fellow (1984)

With over 40 years of experience at the University of Exeter, Smirnoff's work bridges biochemical genetics in Arabidopsis thaliana, algae, and cyanobacteria, while leading analytical facility infrastructure.