Dr Ademola Adetunji

Background

Dr Ademola Adetunji is a Research Fellow in Plant Science at Cranfield University, where he contributes to a tomato transformation project aimed at accelerating crop improvement by bypassing traditional tissue culture techniques through a novel pollen and seed transformation protocol.

Before joining Cranfield, he worked as a Research Associate at the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. There, he was involved in a project that applied non-thermal plasma and advanced phenotyping technologies to enhance seed quality for tree propagation. The research focused on breaking dormancy and decontaminating seeds from six UK tree species using plasma treatments, complemented by 2D and 3D phenotyping for non-destructive assessment of seed and seedling structure.

He previously held postdoctoral positions at the University of Cape Town and at SAEON and North-West University in South Africa, where his work addressed seed priming, stress tolerance, biodiversity restoration, and enhancing ecosystem services.

He holds a PhD in Plant Physiology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he investigated seed deterioration and reinvigoration using antioxidant-based priming. With a strong passion for ecosystem resilience and plant productivity, he contributes to innovative strategies for agricultural advancement and conservation.

Research opportunities

Dr Adetunji’s research interests span a broad range of areas, including plant physiology, seed priming and ageing, seed technology, germplasm conservation, cryopreservation, abiotic stress responses, gas exchange and photochemistry, bio-nanotechnology, food security, phytochemistry, ethnobotany, and phytoremediation.

Publications

• Articles in journals