Guillaume Tena, PhD

A plant biologist who writes about science.

Who I am

• I am a scientist. More precisely, a plant biologist.
• I am French, but lived and worked for 15 years in English-speaking countries (US, UK).
• I got my PhD at the University of Montpellier and INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research), France.
• I was an Assistant in Molecular Biology at Harvard University and Mass. General Hospital in Jen Sheen's lab, Boston, USA.
• I then switched from bench research to writing about science.
• I did a Master in Scientific Communication at Strasbourg University, France.
• I am now a scientific editor for the journal Nature Plants.
• I select, analyse, edit manuscripts from researchers. I go to conferences and talk to scientists.
• I read and write about plant biology, all day long, but most of it is invisible. An editor is a hidden intermediate between scientists, or between scientists and the general audience. I write scientific comments, emails, news, press releases, Twitter messages. And I love it.
• My primary expertise is in immunity and hormonal signalling, abiotic stress, membrane proteins, kinases, molecular genetics of Arabidopsis, GMOs, and other areas of plant biology.
• I live between London, UK, and Strasbourg, France.
• You can contact me on my personal or professional e-mails.
• I've been writing on my personal website since 1995.
• I was once a convicted computer criminal. Nobody's perfect.

Writing samples in English - Mostly for scientists

• Innate immunity: Septic shock
  [2015 - 200 words - published - local]
• Auxin signalling: ABP1 springs a surprise
  [2015 - 200 words - published, local]
• Cell wall formation: Xylem differentiation
  [2015 - 200 words - published - local]
• Innate immunity: Defence by transcription
  [2015 - 200 words - published - local]
• News & Views article
  [2014 - 800 words - local]

Writing samples in French - Mostly for a general audience

• Science subtilement colonialiste : Radiolab, les Hmong et la Pluie Jaune
  [2014 - 4000 mots - published]
• Développer de nouvelles molécules
  [2014 - Portrait 600 mots - published]
• Les "utopies concrètes"
  [2013 - Edito 300 mots - published]
• Le biohacking, biologie moléculaire pour tous
  [2013 - 600 mots - published]
• Journaliste spécialisé en cybersurveillance
  [2013 - 600 mots - published]
• L'infographie, un outil ambigu
  [2013 - 600 mots - published]
• La médiation humanitaire
  [2013 - 500 mots - published]

Selected academic articles

• Protein kinase signaling networks in plant innate immunity
  2011 Current opinion in plant biology 14 (5), 519-529
  Guillaume Tena, Marie Boudsocq, Jen Sheen [link]
• Dual control of nuclear EIN3 by bifurcate MAPK cascades in C2H4 signalling
  2008 Nature 451 (7180), 789-795
  Sang-Dong Yoo, Young-Hee Cho, Guillaume Tena, Yan Xiong, Jen Sheen [link]
• MAP kinase signalling cascade in Arabidopsis innate immunity
  2002 Nature 415 (6875), 977-983
  Tsuneaki Asai, Guillaume Tena (co-authors), Joulia Plotnikova, Matthew R Willmann, Wan-Ling Chiu, Lourdes Gomez-Gomez, Thomas Boller, Frederick M Ausubel, Jen Sheen [link - news]
• Plant mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascades
  2001 Current opinion in plant biology 4 (5), 392-400
  Guillaume Tena, Tsuneaki Asai, Wan-Ling Chiu, Jen Sheen [link]
• Cytosolic acidification but not auxin at physiological concentration is an activator of MAP kinases in tobacco cells
  1998 The Plant Journal 16 (2), 173-182
  Guillaume Tena, Jean‐Pierre Renaudin [link]


• And my complete Google Scholar profile with links to the PDFs

Other

• I also did some video and sound editing, 3D modelling, workshops for kids, even theatre happenings in a museum... Any medium can be used to communicate about science.
• I used to analyse security software for fun, especially anything about computer viruses and steganography - some of this hobby work ended up cited in academic publications, some got me in trouble with the law, and some I will never talk about.
• I have been fascinated by holograms for thirty years and once had a huge collection. I also owned several medieval manuscripts, including a magnificently refined fragment from a 12th-century cistercian bible. I grew glowing mushrooms in my bedroom and travelled thousands of kilometres to see bioluminescent worms and algae in their natural habitat. I love the Andes and always wanted to learn Quechua or Aymara. In fact, many things fascinate me, but you will have to read my personal website to know more about it.
• French is my native language, I am fluent in English, and not so bad in Spanish.

Final words

• All of this to say that you can contact me with any freelance project about scientific writing, editing, translation, communication, etc, that I may do on my free time.


• Note: I wanted to be brief, I guess I failed.