Muhammad Waqas Khokhar was a postdoctoral researcher at Lancaster University in the lab of Steve Long. For the RIPE project, Waqas worked to improve Rubisco, one of the most important enzymes in photosynthesis. He also helped perform Genomic Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of photosynthetic and biomass traits in cowpea and soybean. With his diversified programming statistical experience in designing, processing, and analyzing biological data, he contributed to producing more resilient and productive crop varieties. Waqas earned his bachelor's degree in bioinformatics from Comsats University and his master's degree in bioinformatics from Quaid-I-Azam University. He then received his doctorate in biological sciences from Canterbury Christ Church University and later went on to complete a postdoctoral research position focusing on bioinformatics at Lancaster University. His research has been published in Plant Science and Nucleic Acids Research.