Hannele Tuominen is a professor of forestry-related plant physiology since 1 januari 2020. Her inauguration lecture has the title "The life and death of xylem cells determines the properties of wood".
Hannele Tuominen’s research concerns cells in xylem tissue, which provide transport and physical support in plants. Her focus is on lignification and cell death in these cells. Since the lifetime of the xylem elements controls the thickness of the cell walls and hence the extent of biomass production within each cell, detailed knowledge about the factors that control cell death could be used to modify overall biomass production in trees. The long-term goal of Tuominen’s research is to increase interest in the use of fast-growing deciduous trees, which may contribute to a faster transition to the sustainable production of bio-based materials, fuels and energy.
