Roger Slack


Charles Roger Slack was a British-born plant biologist and biochemist who lived and worked in Australia and New Zealand. In 1966, jointly with Marshall Hatch, he discovered C4 photosynthesis.

Biography

Slack was born on 22 April 1937 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England; the first and only child of Albert and Eva Slack. He studied biochemistry at the University of Nottingham, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1958, and a PhD in 1962. He married Pam Shaw in March 1963, and had two children.
From 1962, Slack worked as a biochemist at the David North Plant Research Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In 1970, he joined the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in New Zealand. From 1989 until his retirement in 2000, Slack was a senior scientist at the newly formed Crown Research Institute for Crop & Food Research in Palmerston North.
Slack died in Palmerston North in 2016.

Roger Slack Award

In 2007 the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists renamed their annual award after Slack. The award is made to society members to recognise an outstanding contribution to the study of plant biology. It was renamed in recognition of his outstanding contribution as a plant biologist and biochemist in New Zealand, his role in the discovery of C4 photosynthesis, and his contribution as an early member of the New Zealand Society of Plant Biologists.

Honours