About
Professor Stephen A Rolfe is a Professor of Plant and Microbial Science at the University of Sheffield's School of Biosciences. He holds the Chair in Plant Science and leads the P3 Wolfson Centre for Plant Disease Phenomics. His research focuses on plant responses to biotic/abiotic stresses, using imaging techniques like chlorophyll fluorescence and multispectral imaging, with applications in Brassica diseases (e.g., clubroot) and microbial community analysis. He has a PhD from the University of Cambridge (1988) and served as Director of Teaching in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences (2008–2015). Awards include the Departmental Teacher of the Year (2007).
Education: BSc (Imperial College London, 1984), PhD (Cambridge, 1988), European Molecular Biology Fellow at UCLA (1988–1991). Current roles include external examiner at Reading University and Scotland's Rural College. Research groups include studies on clubroot pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae and bioremediation of contaminants like ETBE.
Teaching spans undergraduate to postgraduate levels, including modules on plant physiology, environmental microbiology, and ethics in biology. His work is funded by BBSRC, Wolfson Foundation, and industry partners like Shell Aviation. The lab explores quantitative disease resistance, root microbiome dynamics, and xenobiotic degradation in contaminated environments.
Key collaborations involve Airbus and Bayer Crop Sciences, advancing plant phenotyping and environmental biotechnology. His research group includes students like Luke Cartwright and Elisa Clagnan, focusing on topics such as biofilm formation in aviation systems and microbial community dynamics in polluted aquifers.
