About
I grew up in Taiwan, an island with globally ranked no.1 terrestrial biomes (Yale University EPI) and a high population density. Food production and environmental protection are always important issues in my home country. Ever since the time I was studying Agronomy at university I have been passionate about communicating with the public about environmental sciences and have been interested in discussing with farmers their management practices in scientific ways.
To become an expert in agriculture sciences, I decided to study for a master’s degree in soil science and to pursue a Ph.D. degree in geology which focuses on investigating micronutrient cycling in a grazing livestock system, which involved studies on ruminant health, development of analytical techniques on animal excreta and soil and grass nutrient cycling.
In 2023, after a 10-month postdoctoral research experience at Rothamsted Research, I decided to come back to my hometown and started a new role. Now I am a new PI running the Soil Fertility and Crop Nutrition Lab!
Our lab is still under development but I am looking forward to what will be coming out from my new lab!
ORCID:0000-0002-1380-7781
Education
2018 - 2022 May
Ph.D in Geology
University of Bristol (UK) and Rothamsted Research
Thesis title: The fate of micronutrients in excreta of sheep fed with organic/inorganic mineral supplements in a pasture system
2016 - 2018
M.S. in Soil Chemistry
National Taiwan University
2012 - 2016
B.S. in Agronomy
National Taiwan University
Work experience
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Research
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Assistant professor (August 2023 onwards)
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Postdoctoral Researcher (May 2022-March 2023)
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PhD studentship at Rothamsted Research of the United Kingdom (Sept 2018- Sept 2021)
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Cooperative research work with the Executive Yuan of Taiwan 執行行政院農業委員會與經濟部水利署北區水資源局合作計畫 (Jan 2016 – Dec 2016)
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Translating work
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Cooperative translating work with the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, and finished the translation of four articles from English to Chinese (協助台灣科技部國家實驗研究院科技政策研究與資訊中心科技發展觀測平台工作小組進行中翻英工作四篇)
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Outreach Activity
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Short video making for British Science Week (Mar 2021) 協助英國科學週影片製作，帶領英國高中生認識科學研究工作
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Teaching
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Soil Science (Lab) Teaching Assistant | National Taiwan University (2017)
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Soil Chemistry (Lab) Teaching Assistant | National Taiwan University (2016)
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Others
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PhD student representative | North Wyke -Rothamsted Research (2021)
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Awards, Scholarships and Grants
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Full PhD scholarship offered by Alltech 獲得Alltech公司贊助全額英國博士學位研究獎學金
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Awards
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Best multi-media presentation at annual | Ph.D. symposium of Rothamsted Research (2021) 英國洛桑農業研究所年度博士學生發表最佳多媒體報告獎
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Achievement Exhibition | Annual Conference of the Chinese Society of Soil and Fertilizer Sciences (CSSFS) (2017) 中華土壤肥料學會研討會攤位設置獲得優良獎
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Publications
2023
Research article | Plant and Soil
Kao, P.-T., Buss, H.L., McGrath, S.P. et al. The uptake of selenium by perennial ryegrass in soils of different organic matter contents receiving sheep excreta. Plant Soil 486, 639–659 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-05898-8
Research article | Scientific Reports
Kao, P.-T., Fleming, H., Warren, H. et al. The impact of feeding supplemental minerals to sheep on the return of micronutrients to pasture via urine and faeces. Sci Rep 13, 2747 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-29717-3
2021
Research article | Animal-science proceedings
2020
Review article | Advances in Agronomy
Posters
British Society of Animal Science | April 2020
British Society of Animal Science | April 2020
Ph.D. thesis
University of Bristol & Rothamsted Research
Supervisors: Prof. Michael R.F. Lee, Dr. Heather L. Buss and Prof. Steve McGrath
M.S. thesis
National Taiwan University
Supervisor: Prof. Shan-Li Wang (王尚禮 教授)
Title: Utilizing reservoir sediment as an alternative nursery substrate of rice seedlings (利用水庫淤泥作為水稻育秧替代介質)
Attended Conferences
Poster presentation
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British Society of Animal Science (BSAS), 2020: (1) 'A preliminary investigation to determine if selenium loss through exhalation in sheep supplemented with selenium yeast at NRC requirement could be quantified using a gas bag technique.' & (2) 'Assessing mineral provision from drinking water for nutrition studies: Supply of zinc from galvanized troughs.'
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International Conference of the Eastern and Southeast Asia Federation of Soil Science Societies (ESAFS), 2017: 'Utilizing reservoir sediments amended with organic matter as an alternative tray nursery substrate for rice seedlings.'
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Annual Conference of the Chinese Society of Soil and Fertilizer Sciences (CSSFS), 2017: 'Utilizing reservoir sediments amended with organic matter as an alternative tray nursery substrate for rice seedlings.'
Oral presentation
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World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS), 2022: 'Key factors to micronutrient upcycling by grass in an arable/grassland soil applied with urine/faeces of sheep given organic/inorganic forms of mineral supplement '
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PhD student symposium of Rothamsted Research (15 minute talk), 2022: 'Factors influencing micronutrient flux in a pasture system with sheep given organic/inorganic forms of mineral supplement.'
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British Society of Animal Science (BSAS), 2021: 'Impact of supplementation dose and form on micronutrient partitioning and composition in urine and faeces of sheep'
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PhD student symposium of Rothamsted Research (5 minute talk), 2021: 'Influence of supplement source (organic vs. inorganic) of selenium, copper, zinc and manganese on micronutrient excretion and partitioning between urine and faeces in sheep.'