Roberta Farrell

Roberta Lee Farrell is emeritus professor at the University of Waikato, New Zealand and a researcher in the fields of wood degradation, bioremediation, mycology and enzymology.

Early life and education Originally from the United States, Farrell received her bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri–St. Louis followed by an MSc and PhD from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. and shortly after she emigrated and became a professor at Waikato University. Farrell is recognised as an expert in cold-tolerant fungi and in the microbes and enzymes that affect wood;

Farrell also has led an international team on numerous expeditions to Antarctica. and she has performed critical work in the preservation of Ernest Shackleton's and Robert Scott's huts.

Farrell was connected to private sector scientific research, and held a Directorship for Parrac Limited, where she was a founding scientist. She also was Founding Scientist of ZyGEM Ltd.

2008 – Science Entrepreneur of the Year award at KuDos, the Hamilton Science Excellence Awards,

1998 – Elected to the Academy Board of International Academy of Wood Science (1998–2004).

1990 – Elected Fellow of International Academy of Wood Science

Selected works Kirk, T. Kent, and Roberta L. Farrell. "Enzymatic" combustion": the microbial degradation of lignin." Annual Reviews in Microbiology 41.1 (1987): 465–501. Kirk, T. Kent, et al. "Production of multiple ligninases by Phanerochaete chrysosporium: effect of selected growth conditions and use of a mutant strain." Enzyme and Microbial technology 8.1 (1986): 27–32. Farrell, Roberta L., et al. "Physical and enzymatic properties of lignin peroxidase isoenzymes from Phanerochaete chrysosporium." Enzyme and microbial technology 11.6 (1989): 322–328. Farrell, R.L., Blanchette, R.A., Brush, T.S., Hadar, Y., Iverson, S., Krisa, K., Wendler, P.A., Zimmerman, W. (1993). Cartapip™: a biopulping product for control of pitch and resin acid problems in pulp mills. J. Biotechnol. 30: 115–122. Farrell, R.L. (1998). Science, technology and end-users: optimising R&D for the commercial sector for society’s benefits. In Leadership Priorities for New Zealand Science and Technology sponsored by the Academy Council of The Royal Society of New Zealand, 5–6 November 1998. Miscellaneous series 54, pp. 127–131. Pointing, S.B., Chan,Y., Lacap, D.C., Lau, M.C.Y., Jurgens, J., Farrell,R.L.. 2009. Highly specialized microbial diversity in hyper-arid polar desert . Proc Natl Acad Sci.USA, volume 106 no. 47 19964-19969. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0908274106. Epub 2009 Oct 22. Farrell, R.L., Arenz, B.E., Duncan, S.M., Held, B.W. Jurgens, J.A., Blanchette, R.A. 2011. Introduced and Indigenous Fungi of the Ross Island Historic Huts and Pristine Areas of Antarctica. Polar Biology. doi: 10.1007/s00300-011-1060-8. Chan Y., Van Nostrand J.D., Zhou J., Pointing, S.B., Farrell, R.L. 2013. Functional ecology of an Antarctic Dry Valleys landscape. Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) 110: 8990–8995. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1300643110. Epub 2013 May 13.