Martin McAinsh graduated from the University of Sussex (UK) in 1984 before moving to Lancaster University (UK) to study biotic–abiotic stress interactions in barley for his PhD followed by a postdoctoral position studying plant calcium signal transduction. He subsequently moved to the University of Edinburgh (UK) as a Lecturer before returning to Lancaster University as a Royal Society University Research Fellow in 1992 to set up his own laboratory investigating plant stress signalling mechanisms. Martin’s laboratory studies plant–environment interactions at the whole-plant, cellular and molecular levels focusing on the mechanisms by which plants respond to changes in their environment including drought, elevated carbon dioxide and ozone stress. Specifically, he is interested in understanding the cellular/molecular basis of how plants tolerate these environmental stresses and how this relates to agricultural sustainability and food security. He is currently working with agribusiness to apply this understanding to develop sustainable solutions for enhancing agricultural production and for reducing waste in the supply chain.

Martin is an Editor for New Phytologist where he joined the Editorial board in 2019 and he had previously been a Co-Editor and an Advisor to the journal.