Jane Langdale is a plant biologist with over 25 years' research experience in both UK and US universities. Her main research focuses on understanding the genetic basis of plant developmental processes and elucidating how those processes evolved. Professor Langdale was appointed as a University academic in 1994 and most recently has been Head of the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford. She was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) in 2007.