Dr. Hicham CHAHTANE, who holds a PhD in plant physiology, is a plant scientist who worked as a researcher at the CNRS in the Laboratory of Cellular and Plant Physiology at CEA Grenoble in France and at the Department of Botany at the University of Geneva for 10 years before moving to the south of France to join the Pierre Fabre Botanical Conservatory in April 2021.
He is an expert in flower and seed development and has published numerous articles on his research projects, which focus on the genetic and genomic control of flower formation, the evolution of terrestrial plants, and the genetic regulation of seed germination. Today, Hicham works at the Pierre Fabre laboratories within the botanical garden, where he established an in vitro culture laboratory dedicated to conservation.
His main activities include explaining the various missions of the botanical garden and the strategy developed by the Green Mission Pierre Fabre to visitors, as well as leveraging his knowledge and expertise to assist the agronomic and R&D teams. Additionally, he develops innovative culture protocols in sterile conditions to propagate and secure the collections of endangered plant species in the botanical garden, contributing to plant conservation efforts on a local, national, and global scale with partners from around the world.