2025 Reflections with Dr. Katia Hougaard

Описание: Happy holidays, season’s greetings, and Happy New Year’s Eve to you and yours! I hope that you’re having a pleasant and peaceful conclusion to 2025.

My most important milestone of 2025 was completing my PhD at Imperial College London. Through my research, I uncovered new insights on the genes controlling the plant Medicago truncatula’s resistance to pea aphids as well as the physiological basis of the plant defence response.

When I started my PhD on plant immunology back in November 2017, my supervisor and I predicted that I’d be finished by 2021 at the latest. However, I had no way of knowing all the difficult times that lay ahead. In both my personal and professional life, these challenges compelled me to take several interruptions of studies. At the end of 2024, I submitted my PhD thesis and in May 2025 I passed the viva voce exam.

My work wasn’t done yet, as my supervisor and I decided on extensive improvements before the thesis joined Imperial College’s library for posterity. Therefore, I spent most of the summer of 2025 editing, rewriting, updating references, and reworking diagrams in the thesis. All edits were accepted, and I officially graduated from Imperial College in November 2025.

As for science communication, 2025 has seen my Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Youtube, and X (Twitter) slowly but steadily gain followers. I’ve kept up with creating new weekly photography, essay, and video content reflecting the seasons and the botanical world around me. Offline, I presented a live talk on the plant immune system in the stunning venue of a Mediaeval Cotswolds church in April 2025.

The kitchen garden was unusually demanding this summer due to the prolonged heatwave and drought in the UK, which meant I had to spend two hours watering every evening. Thanks to my knowledge of plant biology, there were prodigious harvests of tomatoes, beans, squash, berries, salad, peppers, and herbs well into the autumn. This year, we invested in a big freezer and a food dehydrator so we can eat our own produce all year long!

Other exciting botanical projects this year included planting trees in the “Mini Forest” on our property. In total, I planted 20 young trees, mostly from Jurassic Plants, around the perimeter and in the corners of the meadow to help build the forest habitat. My cactus collection is expanding since I’m growing many new species from seeds in the cottage windowsills. Furthermore, this year I’ve tried adding tulips and other spring bulbs to the flower garden as part of its long-term renovation.



Exciting new projects for Katia Plant Scientist are on the horizon for 2026! Although I’m going on a two-month hiatus to focus on these big plans, I will be back in March 2026 with new photos, essays, videos, and more.

I would like to sincerely thank everyone who likes, follows, and comments on my content. Connecting with fellow plant lovers on social media is rewarding. You are all truly appreciated, and I would be honoured if you could continue to support me in 2026.

Stay curious about plants, fellow plant lovers!

Warmest wishes, Dr. Katia Hougaard

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