Plant Cell Walls

Dr. Geitmann investigates the role of the cell wall in plant reproduction and development. Her research focuses on the cellular processes that lead to the formation of plant organs and functional tissues. She holds the Canada Research Chair in Biomechanics of Plant Development and leads an interdisciplinary team of biologists and engineers. Dr. Geitmann's research combines cell biology with engineering methodology and mathematical concepts to reveal how the cell wall deforms during cell growth and to detect the forces involved. Her team has developed sophisticated experimental and computational tools enabling researchers to study questions such as how the pollen tube delivers the sperm cells during reproduction in plants and how plant cells change shape to generate tissues with various functionalities. Dr. Geitmann is the editor of the books 'Pollen and Pollen Tube Biology' (2020), 'Plant Biomechanics - From Structure to Function at Multiple Scales' (2018), 'Cell Biology of Plant and Fungal Tip Growth' (2001). She published 100+ journal articles and book chapters, and she has supervised more than 100 trainees. She has organised numerous international conferences and workshops including a NATO Workshop on 'Tip Growth', joint meetings between the American and Canadian Societies of Plant Biology, the '9th International Plant Biomechanics Conference', and international workshops on 'Cell Wall Mechanics' and 'Multiscale Modeling of Cell Wall Mechanics and Growth in Walled Cells' hosted by the Banff International Research Station. She is frequently solicited to serve on the scientific advisory committees of international conferences on the plant cell wall. In 2013-2015, she served as President of the Microscopical Society of Canada and she was the President of the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists in 2015-2017. She served as the President of the International Association of Plant Reproduction Research in 2018-2022, and she is a member of the editorial and advisory boards of multiple scientific journals including Cell, Plant Physiology, and Journal of Experimental Botany. Anja Geitmann obtained her PhD in Environmental Biology in 1997 from the University of Siena (Italy), following undergraduate and graduate studies in biology at the University of Constance (Germany), Oregon State University (USA), and Stockholm University (Sweden). Between 1997 and 2001 she performed postdoctoral research at the Université Laval, Québec, and at the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands. From 2001 to 2015 she was Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences of the Université de Montréal and Scientist at the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale. She taught Plant Anatomy, Microscopy, and Scientific Communication at undergraduate and graduate levels. In 2015 Dr. Geitmann was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environment