Rhodes Scholar returns

A Rhodes Scholar has returned to the University of Adelaide - and a career in science.

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls at the Waite Campus has hired Dr Natalie Betts as a Postdoctoral Fellow.

Her appointment is thanks to Federal and State Government funding to support a number of early career researchers at the centre's locations in Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane. But for Dr Betts, "early career" has taken on a different meaning.

"Until I started working for the Centre of Excellence, it had been 11 years since I'd last worked in a lab," Dr Betts said.

Dr Betts graduated from the University of Adelaide with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in 1996 and was a Rhodes Scholar to Oxford, where she studied for her DPhil (PhD) in Plant Science.

After graduating from Oxford, her career turned from science to business. She was hired by a global management consultant company, which aimed to put her problem-solving skills to different use.

Having moved back to Adelaide in 2002, Dr Betts found other work opportunities, such as writing technical documents and consulting for a medical device company. While she and her husband returned to Adelaide to raise a family, Dr Betts knew there would also be opportunities in Adelaide to participate in world-class science.

"I've long had a desire to get back into science," she said. "Last year I heard about an opportunity with the Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls thanks to Dr Rachel Burton [one of the centre's four Chief Investigators], and everything just fell into place. I consider myself very lucky."

The centre is hoping to discover ways of altering the soluble fibre levels in grain, to maximise its potential for improved human health, and to benefit industry in diverse areas such as bioethanol production, malting processes for beer production, and pulp and paper manufacture.

The centre involves collaboration with the universities of Melbourne and Queensland, with major research and industry partners in Scotland, Sweden, Germany and the US.

The Australian Research Council has awarded the centre $1.25 million to employ early career researchers, with an additional $500,000 in support from the South Australian Government.

Dr Betts described her work at the centre, and its potential applications, as "very exciting".

"It's refreshing to be working in an area that has so many potential benefits for society," she said. "For example, if you consider the fact that so many people in the world could improve their fibre intake, which is important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer and so on, I'm very pleased to be working on some of the fundamental biology that could lead to that.

"The implications of the work we're doing - for human health and nutrition, and supporting the development of biofuels - means that our research can potentially achieve some great outcomes."

Story by David Ellis