Farewell to Max Herzog

Farewell to Max Herzog

Max is leaving academia! The job security at the University of Copenhagen does not match his expectations, and I can hardly blame him. On top of that, his new position is much closer to home, so there will be no commuting into downtown Copenhagen in the future. That said, I will miss Max, and right now I am really not sure how to handle his resignation. He has been managing all the day-to-day operations of our Danida-funded "Climate-smart African Rice" project. There is only one person to take over, and that is me.

Lately, Max has also done most of the coordination for "Field Biology III," a first-year compulsory course in Biology here at UCPH. Our section has paid Max to do that, but there is currently no one else to take over but myself!

I have promised myself not to panic. I will just survive until early September, and then I will make a decision on how to continue without Max in my group.

I will truly miss your company, Max!

Max og Olejpg
We have enjoyed many good moments together, starting in 2010 when Max did his BSc thesis work under my supervision. However, the last four years, during which Max has been managing our Danida project on Climate-smart African Rice, have been particularly enjoyable.

Here is the impressive list of Max' publications:
  1. Herzog M (2018) Afgrøder som tåler oversvømmelse. Aktuel Naturvidenskab. Aarhus Universitet, Aarhus.
  2. Herzog M, Fukao T, Winkel A, Konnerup D, Lamichhane S, Alpuerto JB, Hasler-Sheetal H, Pedersen O (2018) Physiology, gene expression and metabolome of two wheat cultivars with contrasting submergence tolerance. Plant, Cell & Environment 41: 1632-1644. doi: 10.1111/pce.13211.
  3. Herzog M, Konnerup D, Pedersen O, Winkel A, Colmer TD (2018) Leaf gas films contribute to rice (Oryza sativa) submergence tolerance during saline floods. Plant, Cell & Environment 41: 885-897. doi: 10.1111/pce.12873.
  4. Herzog M, Pedersen O (2014) Partial versus complete submergence - snorkeling aids root aeration in Rumex palustris but not in R. acetosa. Plant, Cell & Environment 37: 2381-2390. doi: 10.1111/pce.12284.
  5. Herzog M, Pellegrini E, Pedersen O (2023) A meta-analysis of plant tissue O2 dynamics. Functional Plant Biology: 10.1071/FP22294. doi: 10.1071/FP22294.
  6. Herzog M, Striker GG, Colmer TD, Pedersen O (2016) Mechanisms of waterlogging tolerance in wheat – a review of root and shoot physiology. Plant, Cell & Environment 39: 1068-1086. doi: 10.1111/pce.12676.
  7. Jiménez JdlC, Noorrohmah S, Suresh K, Zeisler-Diehl VV, Peralta Ogorek LL, Herzog M, Pellegrini E, Nagai K, Ashikari M, Takahashi H, Pedersen O, Schreiber L, Nakazono M (2024) LGF1 in rice contributes to accumulation of glycerol esters and the formation of a tight root barrier to radial O2 loss. Plant Physiology: resubmitted 16th July, 2024.
  8. Konnerup D, Winkel A, Herzog M, Pedersen O (2017) Leaf gas film retention during submergence of 14 cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum). Functional Plant Biology 44: 877-887. doi: 10.1071/FP16401.
  9. Michael PS, Mwakyusa L, Sanga HG, Shitindi MJ, Kwaslema DR, Herzog M, Meliyo JL, Massawe BH (2023) Floods stress in lowland rice production: experiences of rice farmers in Kilombero and Lower-Rufiji floodplains, Tanzania. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 7: 1206754. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1206754.
  10. Michael PS, Sanga HG, Shitindi MJ, Herzog M, Meliyo JL, Massawe BHJ (2023) Uncovering spatiotemporal pattern of floods with Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar in major rice-growing river basins of Tanzania. Frontiers in Earth Science 11. doi: 10.3389/feart.2023.1183834.
  11. Mwakyusa L, Dixit S, Herzog M, Heredia MC, Madege RR, Kilasi NL (2023) Flood-tolerant rice for enhanced production and livelihood of smallholder farmers of Africa. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 7. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.1244460.
  12. Mwakyusa L, Heredia MC, Kilasi NL, Madege RR, Herzog M, Dixit S (2023) Screening of potential donors for anaerobic stress tolerance during germination in rice. Frontiers in Plant Science 14. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1261101.
  13. Pedersen O, Herzog M (2024) The Importance of Leaf Gas Films for Gas Exchange During Submergence. In: J-I Sakagami, M Nakazono (eds) Responses of Plants to Soil Flooding. Springer Nature Singapore, Singapore.
  14. Song Z, Zonta F, Peralta Ogorek LL, Bastegaard VK, Herzog M, Pellegrini E, Pedersen O (2023) The quantitative importance of key root traits for radial water loss under low water potential. Plant and Soil 482: 567-584. doi: 10.1007/s11104-022-05711-y.
  15. Tong S, Kjær JE, Peralta Ogorek LL, Pellegrini E, Song Z, Pedersen O, Herzog M (2023) Responses of key root traits in the genus Oryza to soil flooding mimicked by stagnant, deoxygenated nutrient solution. Journal of Experimental Botany 74: 2112-2126. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erad014.
  16. Tong S, Ranathunge K, Pellegrini E, Liu D, Herzog M, Jiménez JdlC, Kotula L, Pedersen O (2024) Si weakens the barrier to radial O2 loss and delays its formation, resulting in increased Na+ and Cl− fluxes to the shoot. Environmental and Experimental Botany: resubmitted 10th June 2024.
  17. Winkel A, Herzog M, Konnerup D, Floytrup AH, Pedersen O (2017) Flood tolerance of wheat – the importance of leaf gas films during complete submergence. Functional Plant Biology 44: 888-898. doi: 10.1071/FP16395.