Trevor Fenning, BSc, PhD

 

Project Leader, Forest Management Division

Email: trevor.fenning@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Tel: +44 (0)131 445 2176
Tel direct: +44 (0)131 445 8715
Fax: +44 (0)131 445 5124

Address:
Forest Research
Northern Research Station
Roslin
Midlothian EH25 9SY
UK

Trevor joined the Northern Research Station of Forest Research in May 2008, where he is now charged with the running of the tissue culture unit, to develop and extending Forest Research’s in vitro propagation systems for Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), principally by means of somatic embryogenesis (SE), together with the long term storage of appropriate breeding material by cryo-preservation.

From 1997-2008 Trevor was a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, where he studied the defence responses of Norway spruce (P. abies) and the European field elm Ulmus campestris, at the ecological and genetic levels through the use of biotechnological methods.

From 1989 to 1996 he worked in Horticulture Research International (HRI) at East Malling and Wellesbourne, on tissue culture systems for the vegetable brassicas (Brassica oleracea), wild cherry (Prunus avium) and the English field elm (U. procera).

He studied for his Ph.D. in Botany at the University of Nottingham from 1985 to 1989, and for his B.Sc. in Applied Biology at the University of Wales in Cardiff from 1981 to 1985.

Current role

Project Leader, Forest Management Division

Running the tissue culture unit,

Current programmes

Breeding and production of conifers

Affiliations and achievements

• Speaker at the IUFRO Tree Biotechnology conference, session on “Economic, Scientific and Societal Values”, in the Azores, Portugal, June 2007, on the subject of global warming and its’ effects on forests.
• Keynote speaker and session chair for the 17th meeting of the New Zealand branch of the IAPTC&B held in Rotorua, New Zealand, February 2007, organised by Scion Research.
• Invited speaker to a Finnish public lecture series on ‘Forest biotechnology and environmental interactions’, hosted by the University of Oulu, Finland, October 2006.
• Obtained independent funding for two large independent collaborative projects within MPI-ICE from the Deutsche Forschungs-Gemeinschaft (the German Science Foundation or DFG), to study the defence responses of the European field elm and Norway spruce.
• Co-supervisor of two Ph.D. students, funded by the DFG.
• Keynote speaker and session chair for the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) Tree Biotechnology conference, Umeå Plant Science Centre, Sweden, June 7th-12th 2003.
• Paid consultant to the Institute of Forest Biotechnology for their 'Forest Biotechnology in Europe’ forum, held in Edinburgh, September 12-13th 2002.

Main recent publications

Fenning, T.M., Walter, C. and Gartland, K.M.A. (2008).  Forest biotech and climate change.  Nature Biotechnology 26(6), 615-617.

Fenning, T.M. and Gartland, K.M.A. (2007).  Why forests matter.  Prospect Magazine, 133 (April 2007 issue).  Invited article.

Nicole, M.C., Zeneli, G., Lavallée, R., Rioux, D., Bauce, É., Morency, M.J., Fenning, T.M. and Séguin, A. (2006).  White pine weevil (Pissodes strobi) biological performance is unaffected by the jasmonic acid or wound-induced defense response in Norway spruce (Picea abies).  Tree Physiology 26(11), 1377-1389.

Fenning, T.M. (2006).  The Use of Genetic Transformation Procedures to Study the Defence and Disease Resistance Traits of Trees.  In: Tree Transgenesis: Recent developments.  Eds. M. Fladung & D. Ewald, Springer Verlag, Heidelberg.  Ch 10, p201-234.

Fenning, T.M. (2004).  Fraud offers big rewards for relatively little risk.  Nature 247 (6973), 393.

Walter, C. and Fenning, T.M. (2004).  Deployment of genetically-engineered trees in plantation forestry: An issue of concern?  The science and politics of genetically modified tree plantations.  In: Plantation Forest Biotechnology for the 21st Century.  Eds. C. Walter and M. Carson, Research Signpost, Kerala, India.  Ch 24, pp 423-446.

Fenning, T.M. and Gershenzon, J. (2003).  Perspectives and prospects for forest biotechnology in Europe.  In: Sustainable Forestry, Wood Products & Biotechnology.  Eds: Barredo, Y., Espinel, S., and Ritter, E. D.F.A. Press, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.  pp 131-136.

Gartland, K.M.A., Crow, R.M., Fenning, T.M. and Gartland, J.S. (2003).  Genetically modified trees: properties and potential.  Journal of Arboriculture 29(5), 259-266.

Fenning, T.M. and Gershenzon, J. (2003).  The rise and fall of GM field trials within the EU.  Nature Biotechnology 21(4), 360.

Gartland, K.M.A., Kellison, R.C. and Fenning, T.M. (2003).  Forest Biotechnology and  Europe’s Forests for the Future.  A challenge document for presentation and discussion at Forest Biotechnology in Europe: Impending Barriers, Policy, and Implications.  In : Forest Biotechnology in Europe.  The Challenge, The Promise, The Future. Eds. McCord, S. and Gartland, K.  Institute of Forest Biotechnology, North Carolina Research Triangle Park, USA.  pp 53-84.

Fenning, T.M. and Gershenzon, J. (2003).  Seeing the wood for the trees: The difficulty in understanding where forestry in Europe is now, and where it might be going.  In : Forest Biotechnology in Europe.  The Challenge, The Promise, The Future. Eds. McCord, S. and Gartland, K.  Institute of Forest Biotechnology, North Carolina Research Triangle Park, USA.  pp 13-17.

Fenning, T.M. and Gershenzon, J. (2002). Where will the wood come from?  Plantation forestry and a role for biotechnology.  Trends in Biotechnology 20(7), 291-296. 

Gartland, J.S., Brasier, C.M., Fenning, T.M., Birch, A. and Gartland, K.M.A. (2001). Ri-plasmid mediated transformation and regeneration of Ulmus procera (English Elm).  Plant Growth Regulation 33(2), 123-129.

Puddephat, I.J., Robinson, H.T., Fenning, T.M., Barbara, D.J., Morton, A., Pink, D.A.C. (2001).  Recovery of phenotypically normal transgenic plants of Brassica oleracea upon Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated co-transformation and selection of transformed hairy roots by GUS assay.  Molecular Breeding 7(3), 229-242.

Gartland, J.S., McHugh, A.T., Brasier, C.M., Irvine, R.J., Fenning, T.M. and Gartland, K.M.A. (2000).  Regeneration of phenotypically normal English elm (Ulmus procera) plantlets following transformation with an Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary vector.  Tree Physiology 20(13), 901-907.