Growing Agriculture Beyond Earth
The University of Florida is celebrating one of its own for groundbreaking work that could shape the future of farming—on Earth and far beyond it. Plant molecular biologist Anna-Lisa Paul has been named a recipient of the Southeastern Universities Research Association’s 2025 Distinguished Scientist Award for her leadership in space biology.
As director of UF’s Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research and a research professor in horticultural sciences, Paul co-leads the UF Space Plants Lab, where she and colleague Rob Ferl study how plants respond to the stresses of spaceflight and other extreme environments. Their work has ranged from growing plants aboard the International Space Station to raising crops in lunar soil from Apollo missions—vital steps toward sustaining future explorers on the Moon or Mars.
Paul says plants will help humanity make the journey when we leave Earth’s orbit. That’s a sentiment farmers everywhere can appreciate—because whether feeding a small town or an outpost on another world, agriculture remains at the heart of survival.
