Dr. Helmut Kirchhoff contributes his expertise on the molecular architecture of photosynthetic membranes to the feedstock development component of the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance project. His 20-year work focuses on the implications of complex structural boundary conditions of energy-converting membranes for the functionality, regulation, adaptation, and biogenesis of photosynthetic machinery. He studies this membrane system’s plasticity and dynamics, including acclimation, as assistant professor for Washington State University’s Institute of Biological Chemistry.
Before joining WSU, Dr. Kirchhoff served as a German Science Foundation Research Fellow in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London, England; and worked as a research assistant, assistant scientist, and assistant professor for the Institute of Botany at University of Müenster, Germany.
Dr. Kirchhoff earned his venia legendi in biology, a postdoctoral degree awarded in several European and Asian countries, from the University of Müenster in 2004.