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Alistair Rogers, Ph.D.
Scientist

Environmental Sciences Department
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton, NY 11973-5000

(631) 344 2948
arogers@bnl.gov

Research Interests | Publications | Invited Talks | Affiliations & Activities | Awards | Education | Opportunities for Students | The Lab

Research Interests

My research aims to improve understanding of the mechanisms that underlie whole plant and ecosystem responses to global change.  Much of my research has been focused on the long-term response of plants to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in large field experiments where Free Air CO2 Enrichment technology has been used to expose vegetation to the levels of CO2 predicted to occur in the middle of the century.  We have found that a sustained stimulation in photosynthesis and growth is dependent on the capacity to utilize the extra photosynthate produced at elevated CO2 and on an adequate nitrogen supply.  Signals for the carbon and nitrogen status of a plant, and to an extent the ecosystem, are brokered in the leaf and my lab is focused on understanding and elucidating the interactions between carbon and nitrogen metabolism that underlie many of the commonly observed responses of plants and ecosystems to global change.

Publications

  • Ainsworth EA, Rogers A, Leakey ADB (2008) Targets for crop biotechnology in a future high-CO2 and high O3 world. Plant Physiology. 147, 13-19. (pdf)
  • Weston DJ, Gunter LE, Rogers A, Wullschleger SD (2008) Connecting genes, signaling networks and molecular signatures to environmental stress phenotypes in plants. BMC Systems Biology. 2, 16. (pdf)
  • Junker BH, Lonien J, Heady EH, Rogers A, Schwender J (2007) Parallel determination of enzyme activities and in vivo fluxes in Brassica napus embryos grown on organic or inorganic nitrogen source.  Phytochemistry. 68, 2232-2242. (pdf)
  • Ainsworth EA, Rogers A, Leakey ADB, Heady LE, Gibon Y, Stitt M, Schurr U (2007) Does elevated atmospheric [CO2] alter diurnal C uptake and the balance of C and N metabolites in growing and fully expanded soybean leaves? Journal of Experimental Botany 58, 579-591. (pdf)
  • Ainsworth EA, Rogers A (2007) The response of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance to rising [CO2]: mechanisms and environmental interactions. Plant, Cell & Environment 30, 258-270. (pdf).  This paper also appears in a Virtual Special Issue: Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Plants (Plant, Cell and Environment, September 2007, Volume 30).
  • Bernacchi CJ, Leakey ADB, Heady LE, Morgan PB, Rogers A, Long SP, Ort DR (2006) Hourly and Seasonal variation in photosynthesis and stomatal conductance of soybean grown at future CO2 and ozone concentrations for three years under fully open air field conditions. Plant, Cell & Environment 29, 2077-2090. (pdf). This paper also appears in a Virtual Special Issue: Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Plants (Plant, Cell and Environment, September 2007, Volume 30).
  • Ainsworth EA, Rogers A, Vodkin LO, Walter A, Schurr U (2006) The effects of elevated [CO2] on soybean gene expression: An analysis of growing and mature leaves. Plant Physiology 142, 135-147. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Ainsworth EA (2006) The response of foliar carbohydrates to elevated [CO2]. In: Managed Ecosystems and CO2 (eds J. Nösberger, S.P. Long, R.J. Norby, M. Stitt, G.R. Hendrey, H. Blum), pp.293-308. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Ainsworth EA, Kammann C (2006) FACE value, perspectives on the future of Free Air CO2 Enrichment Studies. In: Managed Ecosystems and CO2 (eds J. Nösberger, S.P. Long, R.J. Norby, M. Stitt, G.R. Hendrey, H. Blum), pp.431-449. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York. (pdf)
  • Ort DR, Ainsworth EA, Aldea M, Allen  DJ, Bernacchi CJ, Berenbaum MR, Bollero GA, Cornic G, Davey PA, Dermody O, Dohleman FG, Hamilton JG, Heaton EA, Leakey ADB, Mahoney J, Mies TA , Morgan PB, Nelson RL, Rogers A, Zangerl AR, Zhu X-G, DeLucia EH, Long SP (2006) SoyFACE: The effects and interactions of elevated [CO2] and [O3] on soybean.  In: Managed Ecosystems and CO2 (eds J. Nösberger, S.P. Long, R.J. Norby, M. Stitt, G.R. Hendrey, H. Blum), pp.71-86 Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Gibon Y, Stitt M, Morgan PB, Bernacchi CJ, Ort DR, Long SP (2006) Increased carbon availability at elevated carbon dioxide concentration improves nitrogen assimilation in a legume. Plant, Cell & Environment. 29, 1651-1658. (pdf). This paper also appears in a Virtual Special Issue: Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Plants (Plant, Cell and Environment, September 2007, Volume 30).
  • Leakey ADB, Uribelarrea M, Ainsworth EA, Naidu SL, Rogers A, Ort DR, Long SP (2006)  Photosynthesis, productivity and yield of maize are not affected by open-air elevation of CO2 concentration in the absence of drought. Plant Physiology. 140, 779-790. (pdf)
  • DeLucia EH, Dermody O, O'Neill B, Aldea M, Hamilton JG, Zangerl AR, Rogers A, Berenbaum MR (2005). Influence of elevated ozone and carbon dioxide on insect densities. Proceedings of the Illinois Crop Protection Conference. pp 13-15, University of Illinois Extension, College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Science. (pdf)  
  • Rogers A, Ainsworth EA, Bernacchi CJ, Gibon Y, Stitt M, Long SP (2005) The response of plant carbohydrates to elevated CO2.  What have we learnt from FACE studies? In: Photosynthesis: Fundamental Aspects to Global Perspectives, vol II (eds van der Est A, Bruce D), pp 968-970. Dordrecht: Kluwer. (pdf)  
  • Hamilton JG, Dermody O, Aldea M, Zangerl AR, Rogers A, Berenbaum M, DeLucia EH (2004) Anthropogenic changes in tropospheric composition increase susceptibility of soybean to insect herbivory. Environmental Entomology. 34, 479-485. (pdf)
  • Long SP, Ainsworth EA, Rogers A, Ort DR (2004) Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide: plants FACE the future. Annual Review of Plant Biology. 55, 557-594. (pdf)
  • Ainsworth EA, Rogers A, Nelson R, Long SP (2004) Testing the "source-sink" hypothesis of down-regulation of photosynthesis in elevated [CO2] in the field with single gene substitutions in Glycine max. Agricultural & Forest Meteorology. 122, 85-94. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Allen DJ, Davey PA, Morgan PB, Ainsworth EA, Bernacchi CJ, Cornic G, Dermody O, Heaton EA, Mahoney J, Zhu X-G, DeLucia EH, Ort DR, Long SP (2004) Leaf photosynthesis and carbohydrate dynamics of soybeans grown throughout their life-cycle under Free-Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment. Plant Cell & Environment. 27, 449-458. (pdf)
  • Ainsworth EA, Rogers A, Blum H, Nösberger J, Long SP (2003) Variation in acclimation of photosynthesis in Trifolium repens after eight years of exposure to Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE). Journal of Experimental Botany 54, 2769-2774. (pdf)
  • Ainsworth EA, Davey PA, Hymus GJ, Osborne CP, Rogers A, Blum H, Nosberger J, Long SP (2003) Acclimation of Lolium perenne photosynthesis to elevated [CO2]: Is stimulation of leaf photosynthesis by elevated carbon dioxide concentration maintained in the long term? A test with Lolium perenne grown for 10 years at two nitrogen fertillization levels under Free Air CO2 Enrichment (FACE). Plant, Cell & Environment. 26, 705-714. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Ellsworth DS, (2002) Photosynthetic acclimation of Pinus taeda (loblolly pine) to long-term growth in elevated pCO2 (FACE). Plant, Cell and Environment. 25, 851-858. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Ellsworth DS, Humphries SW (2001) Possible explanation of the disparity between in vivo and in vitro measurements of Rubisco activity, a study in loblolly pine at elevated pCO2. Journal of Experimental Botany 52, 1555-1561. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Humphries SW (2000) A mechanistic evaluation photosynthetic acclimation at elevated CO2. Global Change Biology 6, 1005-1011. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Fischer BU, Bryant J, Frehner M, Blum H, Raines CA, Long SP (1998) Acclimation of photosynthesis to elevated CO2 under low N nutrition is effected by the capacity for assimilate utilisation. Perennial Ryegrass under Free-Air-CO2 Enrichment (FACE). Plant Physiology. 118, 683-689. (pdf)
  • Rogers A, Bryant JB, Raines CA, Long SP, Blum H, Frehner M (1995) Acclimation of photosynthesis to rising CO2 concentration in the field. Is it determined by source/sink balance? In: Photosynthesis: From Light to Biosphere, vol. V (ed. Mathis P), pp. 1001-1004. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Invited Talks

  • 2007 Speaker, Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA, USA.
  • 2006 Speaker, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, International Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, USA.
  • 2004 Speaker, International Photosynthesis Congress, Montreal, Canada.
  • 2004 Speaker, International FACE workshop, Ascona, Switzerland.
  • 2003 Speaker, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, International Annual Meeting, Denver, USA.
  • 2001 Seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, USA.

Professional Activities and Affiliations

  • Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
  • Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Global Change Biology.
  • Member of the American Society of Plant Biologists and the Ecological Society of America.
  • Member of the Aspen FACE Experiment Steering Committee.

Awards

  • 2004 Outstanding Mentor.  Department of Energy, Office of Science, Undergraduate Research Programs.
  • 2002 Outstanding Mentor.  Department of Energy, Office of Science, Undergraduate Research Programs.

Education

  • Ph.D. Biology, 1998, University of Essex, UK.
  • B.Sc. Biochemistry & Botany, 1994, University of Wales, Bangor, UK.

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Last Modified: April 30, 2008
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DOE, Office of ScienceOne of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE’s Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization.

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