Kort præsentation

My scientific focus areas are plant nutrition, food quality, analytical chemistry and chemometrics. I have contributed to several studies aimed at unravelling the functional roles of nutrients in plant metabolism. I have also utilized my background in fundamental plant science for investigating the quality and authenticity of plant based food products. 

I have extensive experience with development of analytical methods for multi-element and stable isotope analysis of biological material. During the past decades I have gained major experience with ICP-OES, ICP-MS and IR-MS (also compound-specific IR-MS) and some experience with HPLC and MC-ICP-MS. I am a skilled user of various chemometric tools for multivariate data analysis. I have major experience with planning, conducting and evaluating rigidly controlled plant experiments under field conditions, in greenhouses and climate chambers.

I am leading the Plant Nutrients and Food Quality research group where we aim to bridge plant and food science using advanced analytical chemistry. Food quality is a complex trait covering a wide array of characteristics including nutrient content and bioavailability, protein level, amino acid composition and the presence of potentially toxic compounds such as heavy metals. We develop analytical methods that enable us to investigate key factors controlling the quality of plant based food and feed. Our goal is to provide new knowledge and recommendations regarding sustainable and resource efficient plant production that simultaneously delivers safe, authentic and nutritious food.

Research projects:

• B12Fundamentals: Solving fundamental challenges for vitamin B12 fortification of plant-based foods, Independent Research Fund Denmark, DFF-FTP2, Co-PI and WP leader (2025-2028).
• AnaGrain: “Sustainable fertilization strategies by LIBS analyses of grains”, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark, GUDP, Co-PI and WP leader (2022-2026).
• Peas & Love: “Pea yield stability, taste and quality – potential of old cultivars for increased organic pea production”, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark, GUDP, Organic RDD, Co-PI and WP leader (2022-2026).
• LIBSFlexFix: “Data driven and targeted foliar fertilization”, Innovation Fund Denmark - Industrial PhD, Co-PI and principal PhD supervisor (2022-2026).
• AQRIFood: “Advancing the Quality of plant-based Raw materials and Ingredients for Food applications”, Innovation Fund Denmark, Co-PI and WP leader (2022-2024).
• Aggregate: “Biological aggregate formation towards a healthy soil”, Novo Nordisk Fonden, Co-PI and WP leader (2022-2026).
• Cadmium concentration in potatoes from conventional, organic and biodynamic management in the DOK long-term field trial: Ekhagastiftelsen, Co-PI and WP leader (2022-2024).
• Nordetect: “Novel method for analysing plant nutritional status”. Innovation Fund Denmark, Industrial collaboration (2021).
• Vertical farming in a Nordic context: Ministry of higher Education and Science, Project leader (2020).
• Biomarkers of organic food consumption: Ekhagastiftelsen, WP leader (2020-2021).
• BetterBarley: “Plant-microbiome interactions in modern and ancient barley”, Independent Research Fund Denmark, Co-PI, WP leader and co-supervisor of PhD student (2019-2026).
• INTACT Food: “Implementation of Nuclear Techniques for Authentication of Foods with High-Value Labelling Claims”, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Agreement holder of sub-project and consultant (2019-2024).
• SoilTracker: “Forensic toolkit for fingerprinting soil”. Innovation Fund Denmark, WP leader (2017-2020).
• FoodIntegrity: “Assuring the integrity of the European food chain”. FP7 EU project, partner in three WPs (2014-2019).
• COM-ISO: “Compound-specific isotope ratio analysis as a novel and powerful tool for authentication of plant products. The Danish Council for Independent Research, Individual postdoctoral grant (2014-2017).
• AuthenticFood: “Fast methods for authentication of organic plant-based foods”. FP7 ERA-NET EU project, project manager (2011-2015).